And The Angel Said Be Not Afraid
by bellacatbee
Summary: Adam is alive and out of the cage but things are wrong. He can't reach Michael, he's sick and when he falls asleep he's having dreams where he sees his dead mother. Men aren't supposed to bear children but Adam's special, and Michael's an archangel; only the baby is killing Adam slowly and there's nothing Sam and Dean can do but stand by and watch. Adam/Michael, Dean/Castiel


Every single part of his body ached. Adam thought he was getting used to it. The pain didn't stop but moved to another level, a level where pain was all he'd come to expect. His soul was frayed, the very fabric of what made him Adam was pulled apart seam by seam and the only thing that kept him together was Michael. Even Michael's attempts to hold him together were painful. Nothing within the cage was pleasant. Adam opened his eyes, wondering what was happening now and began to wonder if Lucifer had found another way to torment him.

Pain was the first thing he recognized but now other senses were coming back to him. There was grass beneath him, blue sky above and sunlight. Adam didn't trust a moment of it. All of this could have been pulled from his memories, could be nothing more than what he wanted to see and in a moment it would fade and Lucifer would be mocking him again. Sam had been granted freedom but Adam was left behind. The one thing he wanted more than anything, more even than seeing his mom again, was to be free from the cage. Adam dug his fingers into the earth, feeling that it was real and damp beneath his nails.

He pushed himself up and looked around. It felt real. Was this Lucifer's plan now? To drive Adam insane, make him think that he'd been spat out of Hell and then reveal that he'd never really left. Adam knew where they were. It was the cemetery Michael had worn his body to. Fitting that Lucifer chose this place. Adam got to his feet unsteadily. He was naked, in an abandoned cemetery and there was no one around.

"Michael?" he called out softly at first and then louder when he got no reply. "Michael?" He staggered forward, collapsing against one of the gravestones, huddled in on himself.

And that was where Sam found him two hours later.

_Michael burned like fire and felt like ice. Adam didn't know what he should be feeling, didn't know if this was another torture from Hell or if his nerves where finally too frazzled to comprehend the signals they should be sending. Maybe Lucifer finally broke that part of him that understood pain and now everything would only hurt him. He had been overwhelmed by Michael before, subdued by him but Michael had been tender with him. He hadn't hurt Adam even though he could have, even though Adam wasn't the right fit for him - his second choice. He was always careful with Adam, pushing him away so he didn't bear the brunt of attacks, so if the worst happened and Lucifer won then Adam wouldn't feel that killing thrust. They burned in Hell together because Michael had to let him go. He whimpered softly as Michael gathered him into his arms, wrapping his wings around him, trying to keep together the fragments of Adam's soul. _

"_Michael," he whispered and Michael hushed him with a kiss. There was a feeling like molten lead pouring into him, shaping him and Adam tried to pull away but Michael held him, covered him. He ran his fingers over the lines of Adam's body, which was pulled back together and tied now with fragments of his grace. The pain had died, the physical sensation of it, but Adam felt the despair of being trapped there suddenly magnified. He wasn't meant to go to Hell. He wasn't for this place. Michael soothed a hand over his cheek, trying to distract him while Adam cried. _

_Lucifer circled somewhere overhead, watching them and Adam hid his head in Michael's shoulder so that he didn't have to see the other archangel. _

_Michael moved from kisses to caresses and when he was inside Adam it was almost unreal. He could feel the fullness of Michael, feel the stretch of his body but there was nothing there – Michael was made of light, color and nothingness. But it was a nothingness that touched right into the core of Adam and made him feel loved. Michael held him, carried Adam through his own orgasm and whispered to him. Adam whispered back, about hopes, about his fears and how much he wanted Michael to find a way to free them and all the while Lucifer watched them. _

_And unbeknownst to Adam, in the depths of Hell something good grew._

"Do you think he could be a zombie?" Dean asked for what Sam counted as nearly the tenth time.

"No, Dean. Not a zombie," he said patiently. "I think he's just Adam. We've run pretty much every test on him and I really object to cutting unconscious people, Dean, if this ever comes up again. He's not a dead thing, I don't think there's a demon in him and or that he's still possessed by Michael. He just came back. I came back."

"Yes but I…." Dean shifted uncomfortably.

"I know you did. Maybe someone did that for him," Sam said softly, wondering if Castiel was taking matters into his own hands now when it came to rescuing Winchesters and their siblings from Hell. He'd seen how guilty Dean was because he picked Sam over Adam.

It was a choice Sam knew he'd make as well. Dean was his brother, Adam was a relative stranger. Although it was gloriously altruistic to expect Dean to pick the half-brother he didn't really know over the brother he'd practically raised Sam knew there was no way Dean would ever be able to make that choice. It was almost killing Dean to know he'd left someone down there to the torment of Hell as it was. If he'd left Sam in exchange for Adam, the guilt would have eaten him alive. Castiel would be able to see it too and Sam knew Castiel didn't like seeing Dean suffer.

"I wish Bobby was here," Dean said, shifting uncomfortably.

"We could give him a call?" Sam suggested but Dean shook his head.

"No. Not yet. We shouldn't bother him unless we hit a wall. Let him and Rufus have some fun. Bobby hasn't had a chance to go hunting without us on his tail in a long time." Sam could hear the hardness under Dean's tone, even if he was trying to make a joke out of it. The last time they'd been mixed up with the archangels, Lucifer had killed Bobby. Sam guessed that Dean wanted to keep him out of the way for as long as possible. Sam couldn't really fault him for that.

"Maybe we should call Cas, see if he can shed any light on this?"

"You mean I should call Cas," Dean grumbled. "I don't know if this is really his thing."

"Our brother just came back from hell. I think Castiel might need to know about it." Sam said tersely. He wondered if Dean and Castiel were fighting again. They were either fighting or in complete agreement with each other on everything. If Castiel was following his orders again and parroting Dean's words back to everyone, as if they came from God himself, then Dean most likely wouldn't be in the mood he was. So the angel was likely back to showing some back bone and reminding Dean that free will meant making up his own mind about things.

"Dean," Sam said again, softening slightly. "Please, he always comes when you call him."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean muttered, settling himself down at the table in Bobby's kitchen, hands clasped together tightly and eyes shut. "Castiel, who art somewhere probably, I could really use a hand." He opened his eyes and looked around the room expectantly and sighed. "Come on, Cas. Something weird is happening and I need you."

There was a sound like the beating of wings and Castiel appeared behind Dean's chair. "Are there demons?" he asked, a flicker of worry appearing over his face before vanishing.

"And hello to you too, Cas," Dean said, turning to look up at the angel. "No, no demons. At least we don't think so. We got a visitor from Hell but as far as we can tell he's all human." He pointed into the room they'd left Adam passed out in. "You might remember him, you dug him up once."

"Adam," Castiel breathed.

"Yes," Sam agreed, feeling the need to slot himself back into the conversation before Castiel and Dean forgot about him entirely. "We've done the normal tests. He seems legit but we thought that before and he was dead so…" He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders and touching his stomach reflexively, remembering how the thing with his brother's face had dug its fingers into him.

"I will see," Castiel agreed, following Sam into the living room. He stepped through the salt ring to touch Adam's sleeping face, frowning but then straightened up. "He is human."

"Great. Good to know," Dean said, leaning in the doorway. "What about Michael? Is he there too?"

"No, Michael is not currently inside your brother. There are…traces of him but his grace is not within Adam anymore," Castiel hurried to reassure him.

"So how did he come to be here? Cas, if you angels are messing about with raising people from the dead again…"

"Dean, I assure you this is not something I did," Castiel held up a placating hand. "And I have not heard anyone in Heaven making such a plan. Plans to free Michael and Lucifer, I have heard those but your brother was inconsequential."

"Fucking angels," Dean hissed.

"You also did not feel he was as important as Sam," Castiel said, eyes narrowing slightly and Dean looked up at him, his face for a moment naked with pain then shut down again.

"Like I said, angels are dicks," he said.

If Sam had had any doubts before now he knew with certainty they were definitely fighting.

"He's here now," Sam said. "Whatever choices anyone made, Adam is here, human and not possessed by Michael." He crossed to sit down at Adam's bedside, relived he could reach out finally and touch him. He was real. He wasn't dead. He wasn't possessed. He wasn't wasting away in Hell because Dean couldn't bear to let Sam go even though he'd been ready for it. Adam was here and Sam wanted to finally get that chance to make things right for him. "We need to ward him against the angels. Michael could be looking for him." He stopped then, swallowing hard. "Are Michael or Lucifer free?"

"Not that I know," Castiel confirmed again. "Adam is the only one who has returned."

"Good," Sam said quietly. "Good. Let's just hope he wakes up soon. Maybe he can tell us something about how he got here."

_Adam was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming because he was in his own home and his mom was alive. She was at the stove, making pancakes and he was sitting at the table. It was a Saturday from when he was fourteen, her first weekend off in a month and he could remember every little detail from the way the radio had played 'Walking on Sunshine' to the smell of her perfume. _

"_Please, don't let this be a nightmare," he begged. He didn't want her to turn round and have Lucifer's face. _

_"Honey?" Kate turned to look at him, expression drawn in worry and Adam sighed in relief. Just his mom, the way she'd always been. _

_"Nothing. I just…it's so good to see you." He stood up, wrapping his arms around her and she felt real._

"_I've missed you too," she said, pulling him down so she could kiss his head. "Adam, I haven't got very long." She pulled away, looking at him sternly. "You're going to wake up soon."_

"_No, I'm not." Adam said stubbornly and clung onto her a bit tighter._

"_Yes, you are, honey." She stroked her fingers through his hair, calming him the way she'd done when he was a child. "I just want you to remember that I love you, Adam. I love you and I will always love you. And Michael has told me…"_

"_Michael!" Adam interrupted, shocked. "You've met Michael?"_

"_Who do you think created this dream?" Kate said, still smiling. "He cares about you so much, Adam. He told me everything. I just want you to know…" Adam strained to hear what she was saying but the world seemed to go white, sound fading away until he was on his own, staring into blackness. The dream was over. His mother was gone and Adam had never found out what it was that she wanted to tell him. _

"Adam? Adam!"

Adam sat straight up then wished he hadn't. He fell back, head bouncing on the pillow and curled onto his side.

"Ten more minutes," he huffed, waving his arm out to try and push away whoever was calling him. He squinted at them through half-closed eyes and realised who was looming over him. "Sam," He breathed. "Oh god, how did you end up here again? Sam!" He struggled up and Sam gripped his shoulders, pushing him back down to lie flat.

"You're not in Hell, Adam. You're safe. You're at Bobby's. Dean and I got you," he said, eyes raking over Adam as he tried to work out if Adam was any risk to himself or anyone else. "Castiel checked you over. He says you're human and there's no archangel riding your ass so that's progress."

"Michael…" Adam whispered, brow creasing as he frowned. He was alive but Michael was gone. He'd dreamed of his mother and she'd known about Michael, she'd know everything and there was something she tried to tell him.

"He's gone, still in the Pit. You're safe now." Sam sounded jubilant but Adam felt like throwing up. He was free but Michael was in Hell.

"No," he moaned, shaking his head. "No, Sam. Michael can't be down there. He can't."

"Why the fuck do you care?" The voice, sharp and bitter, Adam knew immediately had to be Dean. He turned his head, glowering at his half-brother. Dean was slumped against the wall, looking madder and more beat up then the last time Adam had seen him which was saying something. "He put you in Hell. Wore you like a meat suit. You don't owe that guy nothing."

"He protected me. He saved me from Lucifer." Adam said, his vision started to swim and he clutched at Sam, dragging himself up a little bit, his stomach lurching. "He's…Michael is…"

"Michael's a dick. All angels are dicks. If Lucifer and him rip each other to shreds we're all better off," Dean said, not even the slightest bit concerned about Adam's reaction to the news that Michael hadn't made it out of the pit with him.

"Go to hell." Adam snarled, fingers digging into Sam's arm before he keeled over onto his back.

Sam glanced over his shoulder at Dean, frowning at him. "A big help you were."

Dean shrugged. "What? No point in letting him believe whatever they brainwashed him into thinking. That was what got him taken last time. Sooner he learns to hate them, sooner he stays alive."

Sam was quiet for a moment, before he said casually "Whatever Cas did this time it must have really been a jerk move to put you in this kind of mood."

Dean stiffened, standing up straight. "This isn't about Cas," he said then bolted for the door.

Sam huffed, pulling the sheets back up over Adam's chest. "Yeah," he murmured to the unconscious youth. "And you and I both believe that, don't we Adam?" He settled back down in his chair, ready to resume his watch until Adam woke up again. This time hopefully without Dean to cause any more distractions.

_The light was blinding. Adam covered his eyes and slowly he was aware of it taking shape, dimming until he could peek through the gaps in his fingers and finally see Michael. He looked the way he had always appeared in Hell – that strange man who was both familiar and new to Adam, strong jawed and dark haired. Adam felt his heart skip a beat. _

"_Michael," he said, reaching out to touch the angel. "Michael, they said you didn't make it out of Hell."_

"_They were wrong," Michael answered, arms encircling Adam and Adam had to laugh at that._

_"Always straight to the point," he said, grinning. He pulled back from Michael and looked into his green eyes, which when he thought about it reminded him oddly of Dean's. "Michael, why aren't you with me, then? If you got out?"_

"_There are things I must attend to, Adam," the archangel said._

_Adam sighed, pushing himself back into Michael's arms._

_"Just don't forget about me, okay? Come back for me?" he asked, tilting his head so Michael could kiss him. He didn't want Michael, now that he was free, to decide that there were more important things in Heaven than Adam, who was on Earth. _

_Adam had been his most important thing in the cage, the humanity he had strived to rescue and Michael had always promised he would free him and return him to paradise. He'd been a little off if he thought Bobby's front room counted as paradise but he'd kept his other promises. Michael would always chose duty over pleasure, was made to always choose duty. Adam understood that and if there was something in Heaven that needed Michael's attention then Michael would put that first but he needed to know that now that he was free Michael wouldn't just abandon him. _

_"I could never forget about you," Michael promised him, moving to claim Adam's mouth with his own. "You are precious, Adam. Do not forget that."_

_The blinding light encircled him again and Adam shut his eyes. In a flash, Michael was lost to him and Adam found himself alone in the blackness of his dreamless mind. _

The second time Adam woke up he rolled onto his side and threw up. The room seemed to pitch and roll and he was aware of Sam shouting for help. He blacked out again before he could remember anything more.

_His sleep was dreamless. No angels visited him. His mother did not appear. Adam wrapped his arms around himself and curled into a ball, waiting until he woke up again._

"Dean!" Sam shouted. Adam was groaning again. He'd been making noises intermittently, sometimes it even sounded as if he was trying to talk but this was different. His eyelids flickered and then opened and Adam stared straight up at the ceiling.

"Fuck it," Dean swore, coming up behind Sam and taking a look down at Adam's body. "I knew he was possessed or something."

Adam blinked. His tongue skirted out to lick over his parched lips and he made an unhappy noise. "I taste like barf," he said miserably. "And I'm not possessed. I want something to drink."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, you threw up. Sorry about that." He stood up, grinning at Adam. "I'll get you a glass of water." He patted Adam on the shoulder and Adam smiled weakly up at him. He remembered Sam from Hell, remembered the things Sam had told him and the pain when Sam was gone. He liked Sam. He could trust Sam. Dean was a different story.

His older brother loomed over him, frowning and Adam frowned back at him. "You're wrong. Michael's not in Hell," he said, feeling oddly smug at how Dean's face went slack at that information. He recovered quickly through.

"How'd you work that one out?" he asked, peering at Adam as if he wouldn't mind finding out that he needed to do an exorcism. Adam pushed himself up, glaring at Dean.

"I saw him. He visited me in a dream."

"Angels. Can't even leave you alone when you're asleep," Dean muttered, sinking down into Sam's vacated chair. "So, what did he want? Did he tell you why you're here?"

"No," Adam said, biting his lip as he tried to remember the dream, face flaming as he remembered Michael kissing him and hardly anything more than that. "He had something to do. He told me not to worry."

Dean snorted. "Nice of him."

"Michael isn't as bad as you think, Dean. He did protect me…."

"He made you say yes to him. If I ever see him again I'm running him through with Cas's sword."

"Dean!" Sam's voice came from the kitchen, sharp and annoyed. "We talked about this. Lay off." He reappeared in the doorway, a glass of water in hand. "Adam is the person who's important. Who cares about Michael? He isn't here right now." He passed the glass across to Adam and shoved Dean on the shoulder, trying to push him out of the chair. Adam sighed, sipping at the water.

"I'm sort of hungry too," he said eventually. His stomach grumbled in agreement and Adam touched it, smiling awkwardly at his brothers. "Uh, they don't feed you in Hell."

"And you've been unconscious for the better part of four days." Sam said. "I'll get something. Just stay in bed. Dean, kitchen." He grabbed his other brother by the shoulder and Adam noticed Dean physically wince before he stood up, following Sam. Adam restrained himself from making any whipped motions. He and Dean were still pretty much strangers. This time he needed his brothers and getting on the wrong side of Dean probably wouldn't get him any points.

He laid back on the cot, hands stretching over his stomach and tried to make sense of what had happened. He knew Michael must have had something to do with it but how he managed to free them from the cage Adam couldn't remember. The last thing he did remember was waking up in the graveyard and then everything was a blank. He tapped his fingers over his stomach, wondering if it was a good idea to try to remember or if he should count his blessings that Hell felt like a distant memory now. Even as he tied to remember his time in Hell he couldn't remember most of it just the feeling of Michael's grace around him, inside of him, protecting him from Lucifer's attentions.

He closed his eyes, settling on that feeling and then opened them again, looking down worriedly at his stomach. For a moment he'd felt a touch, light as a butterfly's wings, as if something was moving inside of him. Then his stomach grumbled again and Adam shook his head, laughing to himself. Too long in Hell, too long playing host to an archangel. He'd forgotten his own body. He was just hungry. That was all.

He was human. He was safe. He should enjoy that for as long as he could because if Adam had learned anything it was that sense of safety didn't last very long around the Winchesters.

"I think I'm dying." Adam moaned, and closed his eyes tightly. His stomach gave another lurch and he reached for the bucket Dean had thoughtfully bought him.

"You're not dying," Sam said and Adam opened one eye to glare at him.

"I think I've got the most experience here out of all of us."

"Debatable," Sam muttered, reaching for a packet of tissues, throwing them to Adam to wipe his face with. Adam groaned again and lurched forward, another heave bringing up the contents of his stomach.

"I need to see a doctor," he said when he felt the room was in focus again. "Sam, you need to take me to hospital."

"No," Dean said firmly. He shot Sam a warning glance. "You're staying here. It's just a virus or something. It'll pass and we can't risk going to hospital if it's something you picked up in Hell. We can't go scaring the doctors with angelic STDs or something."

"Dean, Adam was trapped in hell with Lucifer and Michael…," Sam gestured in front of him with his hands, trying to make sense of what he wanted to say but Adam cut him off.

"Don't make prison rape jokes about your little brother, you fucking dick," he said, burying his head in the pillow. "If you think its angelic then get Castiel or Michael. Please, I feel like…."

"Yeah, yeah. You feel like you're dying. I heard you," Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not praying to Michael. That bastard isn't setting one foot in this house."

"I'll do it then," Adam said, rolling on to his side and he clasped his hands together, muttering feverishly till Sam pulled them apart.

"No, no. Dean will get Castiel," he said, glaring at Dean who slunk away from the wall to the kitchen to commune with the angels. Sam pressed his hand to Adam's forehead, frowning.

"You don't feel hot." He said and Adam pulled the covers up a little higher.

"Where did you go to medical school, Sam? I'm the only one here who's got any sort of training. I can't keep food or water down, I feel like I'm in the middle of the ocean when I'm standing on dry land. I'd call that a problem, wouldn't you?"

"And we're getting you help, " Sam said, trying to be soothing but Adam only rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah, from Dean's pet angel. If we could call Michael he'd sort this, I know he would."

"I am not Dean's pet," Castiel said from the doorway and Adam blanched slightly, not having suspected he'd be overheard. Castiel stepped forward, peering down at Adam. "I came because Dean said that you are sick." He bent down and placed his fingers to Adam's forehead and Adam slumped unconscious into the pillows.

Sam jumped to his feet. "Now wait a minute…"

"He is ill. He needs rest. This will make him better," Castiel said with a half-shrug of his shoulders, straightening up again.

"Fine, but what's wrong with him? Do you know?" Sam asked worriedly. Castiel glanced down at the sleeping form, his expression momentarily unreadable and when he looked back up at Sam his face was guarded.

"I don't know," he said, turning to leave.

"What?" Sam asked, catching him by the arm. "Damn it, I know you and Dean are fighting but Adam didn't do anything to cause that to happen. Please, can't you fix him?"

Castiel turned to look pityingly at him. "I have helped him as I can."

"What's wrong with him?"

"I do not know, Sam," Castiel said, pulling his arm away from Sam as if the man was of no importance. "Make certain he rests and drinks fluids." And then he was gone, leaving Sam alone with Adam's sleeping form. Sam sighed, collapsing into a chair and didn't bother to look up when Dean came back into the room.

"So, did Cas dig up anything useful?" he asked and Sam wondered why Dean had taken to avoiding the angel now. He rubbed at his eyes and shook his head.

"No, he put Adam to sleep and said that he didn't know what was causing the sickness."

Dean paused, frowning.

"That's not good."

"I know."

"Do you think he might be….?"

"Dying again? Dean, I don't know. I'd want to think God couldn't be that cruel but if even the angels don't know what's wrong with him…." Sam shook his head again, not wanting to think about it. Adam was just ill. His system was getting used to him being alive again; to eating, drinking and being a normal human person.

"If you haven't noticed, Sammy, God doesn't give a damn about anyone anymore," Dean said, turning away from Adam's prone body to stare out the window and Sam couldn't fault him. Every time Adam had come into their lives he'd been snatched away just as quickly. Dean didn't want to get close to someone, whose history said he wouldn't be with them for too much longer. Sam reached for Adam's hand, clenching it tightly in his own and prayed for the first time in a long time that it wouldn't be the case this time. If God was listening, if he still cared about them, then he'd save Adam this time.

"_Michael?" Adam called. There was no light again, he was in the darkness. "Michael?" he shouted, wondering if he could get the angel to come to him if he called him loudly enough. There was the pulse of light behind him and he turned quickly. Another angel was there but this one Adam didn't recognize. It didn't look like any vessel Adam had ever seen Michael inside and the grace didn't feel right. He knew what Michael felt like, that burning hot white power that spread through every bit of Adam and made him tingle. _

"_Sorry, Kiddo," the apparition said. "Not Mike. He's busy. I'm Gabriel, his little brother." _

"_Gabriel," Adam repeated, dumb struck._

"_Yeah, you know, the Messenger. I heard you came back from the dead. Seems to be a lot of that going on at the moment." The angel, Gabriel, flexed his fingers as if just experiencing them for the first time. _

"_Did Michael want you to tell me something?" Adam hazarded a guess and Gabriel beamed at him._

_"He said you were smart. Not that smart, if you gave into him, but still you're right that I've got a message for you."_

"_What is it?" _

_Gabriel held up his hand, waggling a finger at Adam. "No, can't tell you here. Big bro and bigger bro have got to be there too."_

"_Are you planning to knock them unconscious and drag them into my dreams too?" Adam asked and then frowned as Gabriel seemed to consider the idea._

"_You know, I think I could grow to like you, kid," he said, draping his arm over Adam's shoulder and grinning conspiratorially at him. "But no, I'm gonna come and see you soon though, keep your chin up." He clicked his fingers_ and Adam found himself awake, tangled up in the bed sheets but without that nauseous feeling for the first time in what felt like weeks. He stumbled out of bed, trying to get to the kitchen, desperate for a drink of water. He got a few steps before his legs collapsed out under him and he tumbled to the floor.

Dean was there in an instant, strong arms wrapping around him and hauling him up. "I got you," he muttered and Adam leant back into his arms, resting against him and trying not to remember that Dean was Michael's true vessel, that Michael could have held him like this wrapped up in his brother's body.

"I had a dream," he mumbled. "I saw the angel Gabriel."

"Gabriel's dead, kid," Dean said, dragging him back towards the cot.

"Maybe he came back," Adam defended himself. "He said there was a lot of that going around."

"Do you really think Adam saw Gabriel?" Sam asked. He was leaning on the rail of Bobby's porch, looking out over the junk yard. Dean shrugged and took another sip of his beer. Adam was asleep and they'd both needed a breath of fresh air again.

"I don't know. I think he's dead. I don't think he could have resisted fucking with us again if he wasn't."

"Maybe that's what he's doing now?" Sam suggested. Dean cast him a withering glance and finished the dregs of the bottle.

"Or maybe Adam's just dying," he said, hefting his arm back as if to throw the bottle then thought better of it and placed it down on the rail next to Sam. "I'm going in to check on him." He said and Sam nodded. He heard the door shut behind him and sighed, leaning forward a bit more as he clasped his hands together.

"Gabriel, if you can hear this, I need to speak to you," he tried. There was no sound but the wind and Sam shifted uncomfortably.

"Gabriel?" He called again, a little louder this time. "If you're alive, show yourself. Adam said he saw you. I need to know if it was you, if you're back to being a trickster because faking your death and killing my brother is pretty much what you do. So if you'd like to come and tell me what lesson it is that I need to learn this time I'd be grateful because I just can't take this anymore!" He looked up into the sky, into the glaring sun and wondered what good he was doing by standing out here, shouting at nothing and nobody when there was a noise behind him, the crackle of a chocolate bar being opened and then bitten into.

"Mmm, Sammy, you're really still cut up about me killing Dean? Didn't I say I was sorry for that? If I didn't, I meant to."

Sam turned quickly, already reaching out to grab Gabriel and force him bodily against the side of the house. Gabriel dropped his candy bar in the process, making a started noise. "Look at what you made me do! Now it'll be dusty!" he complained.

"Are you doing this to Adam?" Sam growled. He should have known better than to believe Gabriel and his tacky porn video of a last will and testament. He'd always been a trickster but Sam had wanted to believe he could redeem himself. He'd thought he'd seen something in Gabriel, compassion and belief, but Gabriel was as untrustworthy as Sam had always known he was deep in his bones.

"Me? Hurt him? Nah, I'm not the one causing this. In fact, I'm here to make things better!" Gabriel grinned at him and Sam couldn't help feeling there was something he was missing.

"How did you escape Lucifer? I thought he killed you?" he demanded.

Gabriel's happy expression faded, his eyes becoming cold and in one swift movement he shoved Sam away from him and back up against the rail.

"I died. I died for you and your little cause. Happy now? I'm back from the dead, second chance," he hissed and Sam almost felt sorry for having doubted him in the first place. As quick as Gabriel's mood had soured it brightened again. "And with that in mind, he's in there right?" He pointed to the front door and Sam nodded slowly. Gabriel barged in ahead of him and Sam followed wordlessly.

Gabriel had been resurrected. First Adam and now Gabriel. Whatever was at work here Sam wished he could make heads or tails of it because as happy as he was to have both of them back he didn't feel he could trust it.

Adam was sitting up in his make-shift bed and his eyes widened when he saw Gabriel.

"Gabriel!" he breathed. "I knew you were real. I told Dean…"

"Yeah, well, your brother's not the sharpest tool in the shed," Gabriel said, throwing him a wink and making a lollipop appear from thin air which he handed to Adam with a flourish. "You've got to keep your strength up now."

Adam frowned at him. "I really don't think a lollipop is going to make me feel better," he said dubiously but Gabriel ignored him.

"Deano! Sammy. I need you stand there, you can be my shepherds!" he said, grabbing Sam's hand and trying to grab hold of Dean's as well but Dean stubbornly refused to give it to him so Gabriel finally relented by shoving Sam next to him. "Right, stay there. Don't talk. I'll reveal it all in a minute." He turned back to Adam, crouching at his bedside, unable to keep the grin from his face. "It's been a long time since I've done this. I might be a bit rusty."

He cleared his throat importantly and clutched at Adam's hand. "Adam, be not afraid, for I am the archangel Gabriel and I bring you tidings of glad news, for you are blessed with a child." He smiled up at Adam and Adam looked confusedly back down at him.

"I think you might have the wrong speech?" he ventured after a moment.

"No, pretty sure that's the right one. Michael was pretty insistent on it and everything," Gabriel said, reaching forward to press his hand against Adam's stomach. "It's kicking in there right now. Hello little angel."

"Is it….kicking?" Sam asked. He wasn't going to believe a word that came out of Gabriel's mouth until he had proof, one way or another. Adam looked up at him, his face ashen and swallowed.

"Yeah. I think….yeah it is," he whispered, looking down at his stomach in horror while Dean made a retching noise.

"How is that even physically possible? I'm a man. Men do not get pregnant," Adam said emphatically, having made a split second decision that denial was the best course of action.

"Probably why Cas couldn't tell what it was," Dean muttered. "Not natural."

Gabriel snorted, turning his attention onto Dean for a moment, eyes gleaming. "Oh, Castiel could tell. All of Heaven can tell. Michael's up there kicking ass and taking names of anyone who's even thinking about coming down here and trying to stop it. Whatever Castiel told you, he would have been able to feel Michael's grace." He eased up Adam's t-shirt slightly, revealing the bump on the otherwise thin body. "An angelic pregnancy kid. You being a man isn't going to stop that. Michael's an archangel. Pretty sure he could impregnate a brick wall if he wanted to."

There was the sound of Dean slamming the door behind him as he stamped outside and Sam collapsed heavily into a chair. "Maybe you should pray for Michael?" he ventured. Gabriel clapped his hands together happily.

"Isn't it fantastic? We're going to be uncles. I've got a reason to go to Winchester family reunions now."

"Cas! Get your ass down here now. That's an order," Dean barked at the sky. He knew from the rustle behind him that Castiel was there even before the other opened his mouth.

"I do not take orders from you, Dean," Castiel said and Dean couldn't help laughing at that.

"Really?" he asked, turning. "Because you're here, aren't you?"

Castiel frowned, eyes flickering to the ground and then back up to Dean. "What do you need?" He asked coldly.

"I just found out that you're a pretty good liar now, Castiel. You really had me going but Gabriel just let the cat of the bag for us. Pregnant? Fuck, why couldn't you tell me? I thought Adam was dying. I mean this is fucked up but at least it's not…"

"He could still die," Castiel said quietly, looking towards the house. "His body is not built to withstand it. The fledgling will keep itself alive by whatever means necessary even if it means killing its host."

"Whoa. Back up there. So he's got some fucking alien parasite inside him that's killing him? And Gabriel's acting like we're supposed to be happy about this?"

Castiel shrugged. "It is Michael's child. We are all happy," he said, his voice betraying no hint that he felt any such emotion.

"Yeah, ecstatic," Dean mumbled. Castiel drifted towards the house but Dean reached out, grabbing his arm to hold him back. "What does this mean…you and me…can you? Are you?" he fumbled with the words and Castiel gave him a withering look.

"There is no you and me, as you have said. We are not in a relationship. You call me when you need me and there are no women around." he said, almost word for word what he'd heard from Dean and Dean to his credit winced hearing them.

"But?" he prompted.

"Do not concern yourself. You are not as powerful as Michael. You have not impregnated me," Castiel said, brushing his hand away. "I would like to see my brother now, Dean."

Dean's face fell and he looked away. "Sure. Just go right on in. It's one big happy family now."

Castiel tilted his head to one side. "I do not think you are happy, Dean," he said softly.

When Dean looked up he was standing in the empty junkyard. He ran a hand through his hair and kicked the nearest hunk of metal but it didn't do anything to stop the aching in his chest. Adam could still die and all because angels had fucked around with things they shouldn't have. He didn't even want to think about Cas. That was better off dead and buried. One day Castiel would realize that and Dean didn't think they'd ever get back to what they'd been, before he started showing Castiel how to be human. He was the one who'd coaxed Castiel into bed and he was the one paying for it now.

"I could so knock him up," he muttered to no one in particular, toeing the dusty ground with his boot, trying not to think about Cas as anything but the angel he was. Angels of the Lord should not fall in love with Dean Winchester. Dean had seen the devotion in Castiel's eyes, known the angel was in love him and it had been so much easier to just drop him then face what that meant. Only now he didn't know what to do. It had seemed the easy option, picking a life without attachments, without making it more than it needed to be but facing up to a life with Castiel hating him, avoiding him, was harder than Dean could believe.

And then Castiel turned up and lied to him as if he didn't know Dean would find out one day. He knew Cas was hurting but to keep something so big from him out of spite was petty, even for Castiel. Castiel who apparently hated the idea of Dean even touching him now and thought it was ludicrous for Dean to even imagine that there was even the slightest chance that the inept fumbling they'd had together could have resulted in anything other than sticky sheets and feelings of regret.

"It could have. I could have," Dean muttered to himself. He'd done impossible things before so why not that? It was as if he suddenly wasn't good enough for Castiel when he remembered the times Castiel had lain in his arms and Dean had sworn that Castiel would have done anything he asked of him. "Do you hear me Cas?" he shouted at the house. "I could knock you up!"

A window opened and Sam stuck his head out of it, frowning at him. "Dude, everyone can hear you. Come inside."

He disappeared for a moment and then peeked back out. "At least now I know what you two are fighting about!"

"Michael?" Adam whispered. It must have been nearly midnight but he couldn't sleep. Dean had fallen asleep in an old arm chair some hours earlier. Sam had gone upstairs once Adam had promised him that he wasn't going to expire in the middle of the night if Sam didn't stay awake watching over him. Adam didn't even remember when the angels had left but they'd gone at some point and he was glad for that. The atmosphere between Dean and Castiel had been unpleasant and the way Gabriel kept trying to touch his stomach unnerved him. Angels, in general, didn't seem to get the idea of personal space but Adam suspected Gabriel got it just fine but liked being a dick.

"Michael?" he whispered again, clasping his hands together and glancing across at Dean, making certain that his brother wasn't likely to wake up. Adam knew Dean didn't want Michael to show up but Adam needed to talk to him. "Please, if you can hear me, send me a sign. You never said this was possible. What happened? Did you plan this?" He paused for a moment but there were no flashes of lightening, no burning bushes and Dean remained stubbornly asleep in his chair.

Adam tried again, "Is this baby an angel? I don't know what to do, Michael. Men don't get pregnant and nothing I covered in my pre-med classes is going to help with this. If anyone ever finds out, they'll want to dissect me or something." He pulled a face thinking about the idea of being treated as a medical anomaly, being blasted all over television and the papers and curled around himself. "Where does it even go? How is it even surviving? Did you give me ovaries or something? Is this just an angelic thing? Could you please come and tell me so I don't feel like I'm going crazy talking to myself."

There was no noise. No sound of wings and again no sign that anyone was paying attention to him. Dean snored softly from the chair.

"Shut up." Adam hissed at Dean. "This is all your fault. You should have just said yes. Then it would be you in this mess and not me." He didn't mean it, not really but none of this was right and Adam didn't want to believe that he was pregnant. It couldn't happen. It didn't matter that an angel had alighted and told him, Adam didn't want to believe it. His life used to be normal. He went to school, he had girlfriends and he was a good boy who loved his mom. He wasn't supposed to get eaten alive because of who his dad was. He wasn't supposed to get possessed by Michael. It was the Winchesters' fault for all of that, their tainted blood.

He could probably put this latest development – a thing that should not ever be, but was apparently – down to being a Winchester too. They seemed to attract trouble and Adam supposed he was one of them even if he didn't want to be.

Dean continued to snore, unaware of Adam's outburst.

"Please, Michael." Adam pleaded. "I miss you. Gabriel was a nice touch but he isn't you. I want to see you."

He thought that would do something but the living room remained stubbornly devoid of archangels. Adam unclasped his hands and wrapped his arms around himself again, lying quietly in the dark hoping to hear or see something. Eventually, without even realizing it, he fell asleep.

_He was back in his mother's kitchen and she was sitting in front of him, sipping coffee and looking younger than he remembered her being. He sat down opposite her and smiled._

"_I think I know what you were trying to tell me last time I saw you," he said, not really certain what else he could say. He wondered how Michael had explained it. How could you explain it? Adam was in love with an angel who had apparently the power to defy nature and get him pregnant and who now seemed to prefer talking to him via third parties rather than visiting Adam himself. "Has he sent you to tell me he loves me again? If he thinks I'm going to listen just because you're my mother, he's sadly mistaken." _

_Kate shook her head. "No, he hasn't sent me." She put her cup of coffee down and stood up, moving to stand beside Adam, stroking his hair. "I remember how frightened I was when I found out I was pregnant with you, that I was going to have to go through it all alone but I'm glad I did. I would never have wanted to miss out on having you." _

_Adam reached out to grab her hand, finding his chest tight and his eyes prickling with tears. "Are you telling me I've got to do this on my own? Has Michael abandoned me?" he asked, wishing he didn't sound so pitiful but she was his mother. She'd seen him at his worst before and she'd always loved him. Adam just needed to know._

"_No. You're not going to be on your own. I just…I know this must be strange for you." _

"_That doesn't even begin to cover it." Adam said, fears not quite laid to rest. "Mom! This doesn't make any sense. How can you just be so calm about it?" Adam didn't remember his Heaven very well, not after the time he'd spent in the cage, especially not after Michael. It was as if he couldn't remember much past Michael. He wondered if Michael had done something to his mind, something to make him forget or if it was just the passage of time. Time moved differently in the cage. Adam felt as if he'd lived and died a hundred lives, not just the ones he had. _

_He wondered if he'd been this calm and collected in Heaven, if eternal happiness had made him forget about how things were on earth. He supposed it must have. He wouldn't have been willing to help Michael – to burn half of humanity – if he hadn't been a little confused. He'd wanted to see his mom again and after going to Heaven himself, after dying, he hadn't cared as much about the nameless humanity that he'd kill. Not as much as he'd cared about seeing her again._

_Maybe that was what she felt. Maybe she didn't care why Adam was alive now or what had happened to him. She could get past the fact that Adam was going through something that medical science told them both was impossible. Maybe she was just happy to see him and that he was breathing again. _

_He didn't get the chance to ask her._

_Kate reached out, hand pressing to his stomach and grinned at him. "You know, I always wanted a granddaughter." _

When Adam woke up he blinked at the sunlight creeping through the window and rolled onto his side. A girl. His baby was a girl. Suddenly the thing growing inside of him wasn't an it, wasn't a thing but a baby. Something made of flesh, blood and grace; a real being that Adam had helped create. It might not be natural for him to be carrying it but it was still real and still his.

"Wow." he said, mostly to himself and then lifted up his shirt a little to look at the swelling bump. "So, you're my daughter? That's pretty cool. Too many men in this family, I think we need a few girls to balance things out. You're going to be so spoiled. They might pretend to be tough but I know Dean and Sam are going to dote on you. Just like me and your…and your dad. When he gets his ass down here and stops being an archangel full time."

He swallowed then, wondering if he could make the next decision without Michael. He guessed Michael probably had some big plans for their kid. It wasn't every day that men got knocked up and Adam wondered if Michael already had some important, heavenly name he was planning to bestow on her that would have some key to her meaning and purpose. Adam placed his hand over his swollen stomach and sighed.

"I'm going to call you Kate," he told it and felt the baby move in response. "Yeah, you like that? Me too. Your dad's just going to have to live with it. That's what he gets for missing all these important moments."

It wasn't as if Adam wasn't aware they were watching him, each taking turns checking on him through the night. He couldn't help but wonder why. It wasn't like he could run off. He was finding it hard enough getting up from the bed and going to the bathroom, running certainly wasn't in the cards. Sometimes Adam didn't even trust his legs to hold him up and he didn't like thinking about the fact that Sam kept helping him along. It was embarrassing. He should have been fit and able-bodied but apparently being the world's only, currently, pregnant man was causing him some problems in that department.

Gabriel kept turning up to regale him with stories about when angels had got it wrong before and ended up knocking up some guy somewhere. Gabriel himself seemed to have a few stories from his days as a Pagan God, which were eye opening. More often than not, the children of gods and mortals turned out to be the heroes of antiquity and legend. Adam just tried not to think about how often their lives had ended horribly and messily.

Castiel appeared infrequently but often enough that when Adam awoke to see a shadowy figure standing over him, he only blinked a few times and assumed it was Castiel. "I'm fine," he said, waving his hand vaguely in the air. "I need to sleep. Go wake up Dean or something."

He had half closed his eyes when he caught the glint of something in the air and he put out his hands, grabbing hold of the stranger – because it was a stranger and not Castiel - by its wrists trying to fight it off. The thing was strong and Adam was weak from pregnancy. "DEAN!" he shouted. "DEAN!"

His brother was in the room in an instant, gun cocked at the thing's head and didn't waste any time putting a bullet into its skull. Adam closed his eyes, not wanting to see the moment it died but the hands held in his grip didn't slacken. He opened his eyes again, blanching as he saw the creatures head wound knitting back together.

"What the hell?" he gasped.

"Angel," Dean rasped. He tossed his gun on the floor and threw himself bodily at the creature, trying to knock it away from Adam. He succeed in getting it a few centimeters off course and Adam vaulted from the cot and then crashed straight on to the floor, clutching at his stomach. "Adam, run!" Dean yelled, turning his head slightly as if trying to make sure that Adam wasn't still in the room with them.

"I can't!" Adam yelled back, doubling up in pain. The pain was blinding and Adam couldn't concentrate on anything else. Dean's momentary worry was all the angel needed to throw him bodily against the wall.

"Be still and let me kill you," it said somberly, nearing Adam who whimpered. It held up its sword again. "You have become a liability."

Adam was vaguely aware of Dean staggering to his feet, spitting out blood on the floor and he could hear the rush of footsteps down the stairs that must have been Sam, alerted by all that crashing and banging, coming to their rescue but he knew almost with painful inevitability that there wasn't anything either of his brothers could do. He curled around himself, wanting to protect Kate from the blow.

And then everything seemed to tilt. There was the rush of wind over his face and Castiel was standing in front of him. He deflected the blow meant for Adam and drew his own sword. Then in a movement so graceful that Adam almost didn't see it, he forced his sword through the other angel's ribcage and into its heart. There was a burst of light and the empty vessel sagged in Castiel's arms. Sam appeared panting in the doorway.

"Fuck, we'll have to burn that," he said, catching sight of the body and then he seemed to take in the rest of the room. "Adam? Are you alright?" he asked, crouching next to Adam's side and helping to ease him up. The pain was still there but it was lessened somewhat now and Adam pressed his hand to his stomach.

"Yeah, I think…I think Kate is kicking."

"Kate?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised.

"What I'm calling the baby," Adam said defensively as Sam helped him up and back onto the cot.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine. Probably no broken bones!" Dean said, still partly doubled over. Castiel dropped the empty body, stepping over it to reach Dean's side and he pressed his hand to Dean's cheek, easing him up.

"Does that feel better?" he asked, watching Dean's face worriedly.

"Much better. Good timing, Cas," Dean murmured, reaching out to mirror the gesture, cupping Castiel's cheek in his hand.

Sam coughed and the two pulled away from each other. Castiel seemed almost disappointed while Dean glanced sheepishly at his brothers and then shrugged as if to imply he would have had a tender moment with anyone after a sudden attack by a rogue angel and neither of them should read into it.

"So," he asked, poking the corpse carefully with his shoe. "Which one of your brothers was that?"

"Iedidiel. He must have been desperate if he broke the wards I had set up. Or he was informed on how to bypass them." Castiel's frown deepened.

"Where's Gabriel?" Sam asked, looking around the room. "I thought he was supposed to…I don't know, watch out for us now?"

"Gabriel is…not here," Castiel said with a shrug of his shoulders. Sam rolled his eyes.

"I can see that, Cas," he muttered and Dean shot him a warning glance before prodding the body with his foot again. Whoever the angel had been wearing had been about forty, well-dressed. The angels seemed to like their vessels to be a bit more upper-class apart from the ones who wanted to be out and about wearing a Winchester.

"Don't worry about Gabriel right now. We'll bulk up security in the morning," Dean said, rubbing his hands together. "Sammy, keep Adam safe here, make sure he's fine and I don't know, get him a glass of water or something. Cas, you and me are gonna build a bonfire." Dean bent down, hefting the body over his shoulders. Castiel followed him obediently and Adam rolled his eyes.

"Make out more like," he said, trying to shift so he could get comfortable again. Near death experiences were just a part of his life now. If he couldn't sleep after them, he was probably never going to sleep again. Sam regarded him thoughtfully.

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" he asked seriously.

Adam yawned. "Oh, my mom told me. I saw her, in a dream. I thought I told you."

"No," Sam said. Adam was asleep again before he could ask another question.

Sam sat on the porch, peeling the label from his bottle of beer while staring into the distance. Dean had decided that they needed a reward for fighting off the angel even though Sam hadn't done anything and Dean had gotten beaten pretty bad by it before Castiel turned up. Sam knew his brother really wanted a drink because he was shaken and that was how Dean dealt with any problems he was having, by drinking them away. Castiel had offered to stand guard over Adam and Sam had to admit that was probably the best course of action. Castiel would be better at defending Adam from whatever was after him. At least until they got a couple of bottles of holy oil out of the Impala's trunk.

Nonetheless, the attack was worrying Sam.

"Dean," he said quietly, drawing his brother's attention from slugging down the whole bottle in one go. One day Sam was going to talk to him about his drinking, remind him how much Dean had hated it when dad got drunk but now wasn't the time. There was a more pressing worry Sam needed to get off his chest. Dean's drinking problem wasn't going anywhere. There'd be time to sort that later. "I've been thinking. If Adam and Michael got out then maybe Lucifer got out too."

Dean paused with the bottle halfway to his mouth. "Cas says he's not," he said.

Sam snorted. "Castiel already lied to you about this and he has a pretty good history of keeping things from you for the greater good. I know you two are best friends with benefits again but could you at least think reasonably about this."

Dean pulled a face. "Don't talk about Cas like that. We're not…"

"Dean, I'm not interested in what you are or aren't doing with Castiel. I'm just pointing out that he hasn't been straight with us about what's going on here."

Dean sighed. "Any reason you need to bring this up?" he asked, voice cagy.

"If Lucifer is also free, why hasn't he tried to find me?" Sam said.

Dean shrugged. "Easy answer. Cas is right. Lucifer isn't free," he said. There was an edge to his tone, as if he was daring Sam to call Castiel was a liar again. Sam wondered exactly what he and Castiel had done together while they were getting rid of the body. It must have been something pretty excellent for Dean to have such a complete turn of attitude towards the angel. Sam sighed, peeling off the final part of the label.

"Or Castiel doesn't know what's going on. Maybe they're keeping him out of the loop," Sam said, eager to get on with outlining his theory. Dean nodded as if that was acceptable to him and Sam continued. "Adam says he's having dreams. Dreams where he sees his mother."

"Nice," Dean said, obviously not understanding Sam's train of thought.

"Dean, do you remember how Lucifer used to turn up in my dreams? He'd appear as Jess."

"Yeah, and he'd also try and get you to agree to something. So far Adam's dreams have just contained annoying archangels and apparently his mom. Nothing bad."

Sam sighed, frustrated that Dean wasn't getting it. "But what if it isn't his mom? What if that…that thing inside him isn't Michael's but Lucifer's? What if this is some kind of attempt by Heaven and Hell to start the apocalypse again?"

Dean was quiet for a moment and then he stood up, unfolding to stand over Sam. "You'd think Adam would remember which one of them knocked him up, wouldn't you?"

"It was Hell, Dean. And Lucifer is the prince of lies," Sam said, looking up at his brother, studying Dean's face not sure what Dean was going to do. He didn't remember Hell. He didn't remember what had happened to him down there and he couldn't remember because if he did it would just break him apart. Adam had come back remarkably adjusted and he'd taken to the idea of pregnancy better than Sam would have, if it was him in Adam's place. "We need to find out. Adam's getting more attached to whatever's growing inside him. He's named it Kate."

"Fine. Fine. You go talk to him," Dean said, holding the door open. "None of this is natural."

Sam stood up. "Yeah, you can say that again," he agreed, patting Dean on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Hey, Adam," Sam settled on his brother's bedside, shaking Adam gently. He sent Castiel out to go keep Dean company on the porch and to stop him from drinking anymore. Adam felt frail under his hands, the bones in his shoulders were right at the surface and Sam could see how much weight he'd lost, except from around his stomach, which was growing at an alarming rate. Adam blinked out of sleep and then smiled at him.

"Sam?"

"Adam, I need to ask you something about…about Kate," Sam said, picking his words carefully.

Adam's smile faded slightly and he placed a hand to his swollen stomach.

"What about Kate?"

Sam paused for a moment. "Who's her father?" he asked gently.

Adam frowned. "Michael. You know that, Sam. Michael's the father and me, I'm the father too. I'm not suddenly a girl or anything."

"No, I know that. How long where you and Michael together like that?" Sam asked. He didn't want to hear about it. Michael had to have taken advantage of Adam. Adam had been frightened and alone in Hell. That was if Adam even remembered what happened.

"Right from the start," Adam answered, his cheeks slightly red. "He was sorry he needed my body. He cared about me and when we were in Hell he protected me."

"Do you remember Hell?"

Adam's face furrowed and he shook his head. "No, I just remember Michael. I remember him."

"Adam," Sam said softly, placing his hand over Adam's, feeling the swell of his stomach and it made Sam feel sick. It wasn't right what was happening to Adam's body or how readily Adam accepted it. "Could this be Lucifer's baby?"

"No!" Adam hissed, pushing Sam's hand away.

"Adam…"

"No, I know she's Michael's. I know she is."

"Then why isn't he here?" Sam exploded angrily. "Why has he been ignoring your prayers? I know you're praying to him at night. I can hear you! He's abandoned you and you can't even remember Hell. What makes you think the angels aren't lying to you this time? They lied to you before, didn't they? Just because you've seen your mom you think everything's okay? Adam, whatever that thing inside you is, it's dangerous. We should cut it out of you now before it kills you."

"No!" Adam said. "No! You're not hurting Kate. You're not!"

"It's probably a demon, Adam. We should get it before it gets us."

"She is not a demon. She's my baby and Michael is the father and he hasn't abandoned me. He loves me!"

"He's an angel. They don't even understand the concept of what love really is!"

Adam pulled back and punched Sam hard across the jaw. Sam hit the floor, more shocked than hurt and looked up at Adam in surprise. Adam gasped, pulling his hand to his chest and cradling it there.

"Adam…" Sam started.

"No! I don't want to hear it, Sam," Adam said, glancing down worriedly at his fingers and then back at his brother. "I know this is Michael's baby. Ask Castiel. Ask Gabriel. They know! I'm keeping her, Sam. Do you think I don't know this is weird? That I'm not terrified? I have no idea how this is even happening but it is and I'm not going to let anyone hurt her."

"I don't want you to die again!" Sam shouted. The silence that followed his outburst was chilling. Sam curled miserably around himself, staring up at Adam unhappily. "I have no idea what's going on, Adam. I just want you safe. Angels are trying to kill you and your body can't even support what's happening to you. I can see it, you're wasting away. What if Michael did this to you for some great plan?"

"I…I think it was a mistake," Adam said quietly, fisting the blankets with his good hand. "I don't think he planned for this to happen."

"But you don't remember," Sam pointed out. "And he's ignoring you now."

"I don't want to lose Kate," Adam said stubbornly.

"I know but I don't want to lose you and I'm always going to pick you over her," Sam said, reaching up to rub his jaw where Adam had hit him. It was beginning to ache now.

"Maybe we should summon Michael?" Adam suggested, eyes wide.

"He hasn't been answering you."

"No, but he might come if Dean asked. Angels seem to like Dean."

"I don't like this."

"So you've said," Adam agreed, fixing Dean with the best glare he could but it was hard to do when he was bedridden. Dean and Sam had moved all of furniture to the sides of the living room, creating a space on the floor and Castiel had drawn summoning signs on the floor in case this attempt in reaching Michael failed to work. They still had no idea if Michael would appear and if he did what form he would take. He couldn't possess Adam any longer. He didn't have Adam's permission and even if he had the fledgling grace growing in Adam would prevent it. Dean point blank refused to give permission and Adam didn't want to have a conversation with his lover while the other was in his older brother's body. There was a chance, however slim, that they might be calling down Michael in his true form.

Dean sighed again; obviously unhappy with the idea and Adam could see Castiel tensing. Maybe they were risking something. Maybe Michael hadn't changed the way Adam had thought he had, maybe if they called him down he would take that as a sign that Dean was giving in to him. Adam thought he wanted the fighting over. From the dream visitations he experienced, Michael wasn't that person any more, he'd changed and his fight in Heaven now was against those who wanted to destroy humanity, not against Lucifer who was safely locked away. At least that was what Adam hoped.

"Right. Let's get this over with," Dean muttered. "Everyone, keep your eyes closed till Cas says it's okay. Cas, you've got the holy oil, right?"

Adam blanched, remembering the feeling of his skin burning when Castiel had thrown the cocktail of holy oil at him – at Michael – and he almost wanted to say something to Castiel then, to remind him how much it had hurt to burn alive but it wasn't the time or place, so he shut his eyes tight and just hoped that this worked.

"Yes, Dean," he heard Castiel say and there was soft sound after that, which Adam took to be the two of them kissing which meant both he and Sam had their eyes closed and Dean thought they couldn't tell what he was doing with his angel. Sam cleared his throat loudly and Adam chuckled softly, hoping that Dean couldn't hear him. It was difficult doing this with his eyes closed when he wanted to look, wanted to see what Dean was doing, wanted to see Michael but he knew he had to keep his eyes shut. He didn't want to be blinded.

"Right…uh…Michael, if you can hear me, this is Dean Winchester., Dean began and Adam bit his bottom lip and concentrated on keep his eyes shut. "I…would you come down here? Adam is…" Whatever else Dean had been about to say was drowned out by the noise of wings and Adam pressed his hand across his eyes, wanting so badly to open them. Part of him wanted to throttle Michael, hating him for ignoring every one of Adam's prayers but turning up when it was Dean. It was just another reminder that Michael hadn't wanted him, that Adam had been his second choice and maybe that was why he stayed away, maybe he didn't want this baby. Maybe that had been a mistake too. More than anything though he wanted Michael to just reassure him that every doubt he had wasn't true. Cautiously he opened his eyes, peeking through his fingers and sighed as he realized Michael had taken human form.

"Adam." Michael looked handsome like he had the last time Adam had seen him in his dreams. He seemed tired too, dark circles under his eyes and Adam almost wanted to reach out to him but he couldn't. He was still too angry that it had taken Dean to bring Michael down to earth and down to him.

"So even after everything, even after knocking me up, you still rather have Dean than me?" he asked, pointing to his swollen stomach and Michael's handsome brow furrowed in confusion.

"You have prayed to me every day, Adam. I have been…busy. It was not until Dean summoned me that I realized you must be in danger. I know your brother would never call for me otherwise." Michael said solemnly and Adam wished that the archangel would feel it when he hit him.

"Castiel," He said carefully. "I want you to set him on fire."

Castiel looked down at the bottle of holy oil in his hand, obviously weighing up the consequences and started to raise his hand but Dean grabbed hold of his wrist, stopping him.

"He's joking, Cas."

"No, I'm not." Adam hissed. He felt a painful kick inside him, the fledgling making its feelings known about his plans to assassinate its father and he doubled up in pain. "Shut up, you." he muttered to his stomach. "Just because he's your father doesn't mean you have to take his side. Besides, he'll come back from it. He always does."

Adam remembered all the skin knitting back together, the way his body had grown back from the burns and it might hurt Michael but it wouldn't stop him. Adam just wanted Michael to feel a little bit of the pain that he'd felt when Michael remained silent to all of his prayers. Castiel looked torn and Dean had wrestled the bottle of holy oil out of his hand and passed it to Sam, who took it carefully as if it might explode on him at any minute.

"Adam," Michael breathed, kneeling before him and reaching out a cautious hand to settle on Adam's stomach, feeling the movement there. His eyes widened and Adam sniffed softly.

"I named her Kate," he said watching Michael's face and daring him to say anything against it. Michael looked up at him, smiling softly and despite his best intentions Adam felt all the anger drain out of him. He wanted to hate Michael but he couldn't. Even now he could feel a swell of love through him and he assumed that was from the fledgling. It made it impossible to be angry. He couldn't control his own body and now he didn't have the ability to control his own emotions.

"It's a good name," Michael whispered, his hand rubbing over Adam's swollen stomach and Adam let out the breath he'd been holding and wrapped his arms around Michael, leaning their foreheads together.

"When I call you next time, you better come," he muttered, not willing to let Michael think he was forgiven just yet.

"I will," Michael promised him.

"Iedidiel is dead," Castiel said and Michael broke away from his embrace, leaving Adam's arms feeling very empty. "He came last night to kill Adam. I stopped him."

Michael straightened up, his face expressionless. "I must return to Heaven."

"What? No!" Adam shouted at the same time as Sam cried out "Can't you see he's dying? You can't leave!" Adam blanched, gripping the bed sheets hard and he glared at Sam.

"I'm not dying," he whispered.

"Sam is correct, Adam. Your body cannot support it," Castiel said softly, turning accusing eyes upon Michael. "I understand this was a mistake, Michael but you cannot leave Adam here. He will die – either from your enemies or from trying to support the baby's grace."

"I am protecting him, Castiel. I am trying to stop Raphael. I do not want Lucifer freed; I do not want Adam hurt. It is regretful that Iedidiel got past my watch but I will not allow that again." From the way Michael moved, with slow deliberate steps Adam realized he must have some hidden injuries. He'd seen Dean walk like that after his fight with the angel, as if every part of him ached and that was after Castiel's healing. "I sent Gabriel to help you."

"And a great help he's been," Sam said with a snort. "Where is he now? He's here to do all the sitting at bedsides but the moment there's a hint of danger he was off like the coward he is."

There was a noise like a knife slicing through butter and Gabriel was standing at Sam's side. "I died for you, Sammy. Don't you forget that," he said, jabbing Sam in the rib.

Michael fixed his gaze on Gabriel. "I bought you back to life to protect Adam. If you are not fulfilling your duties Gabriel then I see no reason to keep you alive." He raised his hand, a sword appearing in his outstretched fingers and Adam saw Dean start from across the room, Castiel shrinking back fearfully. He opened his mouth to say something; to stop Michael because he couldn't just kill his brother like that, couldn't just strip him out from existence but Sam had shoved Gabriel behind him.

"He died for me, Michael. I'm not watching him die again," he said, his voice even, almost light but Adam knew that Sam was supposed to be Lucifer's vessel, that there was a dark side to him too. He could see Michael falter, his hand lowered by half an inch or so.

"Please, Michael," he said, delighted when the archangel turned to look at him. "This isn't Gabriel's fault."

"No," Sam agreed. "It's yours. Your problem so you fix it."

Gabriel snaked his arms around Sam's middle and seemed to be using him as a human shield. Michael would have had to drive his sword through Sam to have half a chance of killing him. Eventually Michael lowered his hand completely, his sword vanishing from his grip.

"And you think you're any different from Lucifer," Sam said with a slight sneer. Gabriel buried his head in Sam's back and Adam thought he might have been crying. He'd never asked Gabriel how he'd died. He'd had more pressing things to worry about like the fact that Gabriel was telling him he was pregnant but now Adam wished he had. There was a history here he didn't understand, that he wasn't part of. Michael's face was ashen and he collapsed slowly onto the cot beside Adam, drawing an arm around Adam's shoulder to keep him close.

"I am not like Lucifer," he said, more to Adam then to anyone else in the room. "I am not…"

"I know," Adam said softly. "I know."

Dean snorted and Adam knew Dean was the only one who'd been completely in control of himself at the cemetery, who remembered everything that had happened. He'd been the only one who hadn't missed a moment of it.

"He's not like Lucifer, Dean," He snapped and to his credit Dean didn't argue.

Adam wrapped his arms around Michael, sagging against him. Now that Michael was here he suddenly felt exhausted.

"Stay," he murmured. "Please, Michael. This is your child. Stay." He rubbed his cheek against Michael's shoulder, trying to get comfortable against him. He felt as if he could sleep for years now and it would be peaceful, if he had Michael beside him. The baby wouldn't kick, there would be no visitations. He could just rest.

"I will stay," Michael agreed, shifting them so they were lying down, Michael's heavy, reassuring form spooned behind him and Adam blinked once, taking in his brothers face – Sam still angry and Dean looked disgusted - then closed his eyes. Michael's hand rested gently over his stomach and Adam could believe that he would stay now. If the others in the room said anything more to each other, Adam didn't know it. He slept like the dead and knew no more.

When Adam awoke it was only him and Michael in the living room. Michael was watching him intently with bright green eyes and Adam knew he must have watched him the whole time he was out. He was used to that. Before he'd said 'yes' Michael had spent a lot of time watching him. At first Adam had found it unnerving but now he knew it was just something angels did. It had prepared him for Castiel who stared constantly without saying a word. At least Michael had always tried to engage him in conversation while watching him so Adam felt less like a labor intensive science experiment that might blow up at any moment the way he did under Castiel's calculating gaze.

"Hi," he croaked out, reaching to run his fingers through Michael's hair. It was coarse and thick and Adam liked that because he could tangle his fingers in it and hold on. He licked his lips, glancing around again. "Where is everyone?"

"Your brothers are asleep," Michael said. "Gabriel and Castiel are replacing the wards and strengthening them. I have volunteered to stay by your side and protect you."

"Good," Adam said, giving his handful of Michael's hair a hard tug. "Then no one will disturb us." He'd read a few times that there was an interesting side effect to pregnancy hormones, that sometimes people just got horny and he was certainly feeling that now but he didn't know if that was down to the pregnancy or the fact that he hadn't seen Michael in a few months. All he knew was that he didn't want to waste the time they had together. After a few minutes of bouncing bedsprings and creaking floorboards either Dean or Sam would be down like a shot and ruin everything.

Adam wasn't really up to much and Michael seemed to understand that. He was gentle with him, the way he had always been, kissing him and holding him. He coaxed Adam to orgasm with his fingers, running them along his cock and then back to press inside Adam, Adam whimpering and bucking his hips up to meet the gentle press and thrust of Michael's fingers. All the while Michael whispered in Adam's ear how beautiful he was, how right he looked swollen with Michael's child and when Adam came he cleaned up every trace of it, tucking Adam back up and spooning protectively around him again.

Sexual desire didn't seem to matter much to Michael. He made the effort when he wanted to but he seemed to enjoy it more when Adam was spent, when Adam came apart under his hands. Adam wasn't used to having anyone who cared about just getting him off. All his teenage fumbles hadn't even covered technique but Michael was certainly skilled and when he made the effort, Adam really liked it. But now he was grateful that it was enough for Michael just to give him pleasure. He didn't have it in him to go up against the stamina of an archangel.

Adam wiggled in his arms, turning so he could see Michael's face and even exhausted as he now was there were questions he still wanted to ask Michael.

"Was she a mistake?" he asked, catching Michael's hand in his and bringing it to press against his stomach. Castiel had called her a mistake. Adam didn't know if he believed that, if he wanted to believe it because he'd been a mistake, someone his father hadn't wanted even though his mother had loved him. He might not have wanted Kate at first, thought she was some sort of abomination but now he could feel her growing inside him and while that had freaked him out at first now he knew he'd fight the whole of the Heavenly Host to protect her.

"It was never my intention to create a new life, Adam," Michael said seriously and Adam swallowed, biting his tongue to let Michael finish. "I was overwhelmed by my desire for you. Once I knew she had been conceived, that my grace had mingled with you, I put all my attentions towards freeing you both. I would not have you confined in Hell nor I would have my fledgling born there, not with Lucifer there."

"He would have killed her." Adam didn't ask. He knew. Kate was something good even if she made him sick, even if Castiel said he was dying, she was still something precious they made together. Lucifer would have killed her in an instant just to see the pain on his brother's face.

Michael nodded and Adam found himself kissing the angel for all he was worth. Michael had saved them. He'd freed them from the cage although Adam didn't quite understand how and partly he didn't care. He was alive again and that was all thanks to Michael.

"What's happening in Heaven?" He gasped, breaking the kiss. "Why are angels coming after me?"

Michael's face was grave. "There are those who believe that I have forsaken my duty, my brother Raphael among them. They believe I have forgotten our Father and Heaven because of you. They believe, wrongly, that if you and the child die I would return to my fight with Lucifer."

Adam shuddered. "But you won't, will you? You've given that up."

"Yes," Michael agreed. "I do not want to fight Lucifer. I wish for him to stay trapped. To fight him only gives him a chance to win. While I cannot bring about paradise on Earth, I have found there is much to enjoy in the world as you have shown it to me."

Adam smiled, turning his face to kiss Michael again. "Maybe they're right then, about me being a distraction from your duty."

Michael frowned. "My Father told me to love humanity and to serve Him. I love you. I believe that is what He would have wanted. He does not do things without reason, Adam. He ensured your creation so I could meet you. I am certain of that now."

Adam snuggled a little deeper into Michael's arms, not certain he agreed with Michael's interpretation of God as a heavenly matchmaker but he was happy Michael wasn't about to forge off and attempt to re-start the apocalypse. The fact that there were angels in Heave ready to kill over that fact worried him but Michael was here now; he'd protect Adam like he'd done in the cage. Michael was the angel other angels were scared of. He even frightened Dean. Adam knew that Michael could seem cold sometimes, distant and the moment when he'd picked up his sword to strike down Gabriel for disobeying him had reminded Adam of how non-human Michael was but he was still learning. Michael had been a weapon before, he'd carried out orders because it was what he was made for. Now he was changing. He loved Adam when before he had only loved God and, at one point, Lucifer. Michael's devotion was at times a fearful thing but Adam knew Michael would never let him die. Not again. Not while he was still standing and had strength.

Knowing that was almost enough to make Adam forgive him for the silence that he'd endured since Michael returned them both to Earth. Not completely but almost. He settled warmly into Michael's arms and kissed him a third time, still grateful to whatever force – fate or Michael's stubbornness – that had thrown them together in the first place.

Adam pushed the plate away from. He didn't want to eat. Everything that was offered to him felt like ash in his mouth when he bit into it. Sam sighed, reaching to pick up the sandwich and took a bite out of it.

"Come on, Adam. This is good. You should eat something," he said through his mouthful and Adam covered his mouth with a hand, trying to keep the wave of nausea rushing through him at bay.

"Sam, if you're going to eat that go out in the kitchen," he said, closing his eyes.

Sam sighed, setting the sandwich back down on the plate and pushing it away from both of them. "You have to eat something," he said quietly, reaching out to touch Adam's hand. "I can see your bones, Adam. You're wasting away."

"It makes me sick," Adam said, looking up at Sam worriedly. "This is what Castiel meant, isn't it? That I'm dying?"

"No," Sam said quickly. "No. You're just having…a backwards craving. I'm sure this is normal in pregnancy. We just need to find out what you do want to eat. Think about it."

Adam lay back on the pillows, trying to think about all the flavors, tastes and different foods he'd eaten over the years and there was only one thing that didn't make him feel completely sick. The crisp, sweet taste, the juice of it, the noise it made when he broke the skin – Adam wanted all of those things. It was the only thing he could think about eating now.

"Yes," he said, licking his lips. "I think I'd like an apple."

"Adam wants apples," Sam said, sticking his head round the door to look at the four men sitting outside.

Gabriel nodded. "I was afraid you'd say that. Right, who's drawing the short straw? Dean can't go so he's out. I don't want to go and Michael has to go. Castiel, that leaves you. Hop off to help Michael fetch the apples."

Dean glanced between the angels, raising an eyebrow. "Someone want to fill me in? I'm pretty sure I could go down the road and pick up some apples. I'm not completely useless."

Castiel sighed. "It is not that easy, Dean. What Adam is craving are not simply normal apples."

"No," Gabriel burst out, obviously unable to keep down his delight. "It's apples from the Garden of Eden. Original sin and all of that!" He wiggled his fingers towards Michael and Dean was surprised at how quickly Gabriel and Michael seemed to have patched up their differences. It always surprised him how angels could be at each other's throats one moment and then behave like loving family the next. Now Gabriel was teasing Michael, like little brothers all over world do, and Michael just smiled indulgently at him.

"Could you repeat that part about original sin?" Sam asked, frowning and stepping out onto the porch to join the others. He reached to take Gabriel's bottle of beer from his fingers, taking a swig from it and then frowning. "Is this chocolate beer? Where did you get this from?" he asked, passing the bottle back to Gabriel.

"Yes, it is and it's delicious." Gabriel said with a smirk. "And original sin is what makes you guys human. Baby needs to be born with it, otherwise she's all angel. Adam's body is trying to compensate but it won't be enough."

"Right," Dean muttered and took a swig from his own bottle of beer.

"The only place we can get the apples are from the Garden of Eden, in the middle of Heaven," Michael said smoothly. He was the only one not drinking. Even Castiel had a bottle next to him, although he'd hardly taken more than a sip or two.

"Eden?" Dean raised an eyebrow incredulously but both Castiel and Michael seemed to take his question as completely sincere.

"Yes," Castiel said.

"It will be dangerous," Michael agreed. "There are many in Heaven who are unhappy. Before I was called down to you I had been winning, I believe, but I fear Raphael may have used my absence to gain more ground."

"Yes, Raphael is like that," Castiel agreed quietly. "He will have used your disappearance to his advantage."

Michael stood up. Sam slipped into his vacant seat, looking as if he still had a question or two he wouldn't mind asking.

"We should go then, Castiel," Michael said. "We must not waste time. If Adam cannot get the food his body craves, he will starve. I do not intend for him to die."

"Nice to hear," Dean said, more to himself then to either of the angels since they had vanished within the blink of an eye.

The Garden was as beautiful as Michael remembered it. He had not had reason to come here often. It was Joshua's to tend and Michael had always been busy with the preparations for war with Lucifer and then with Adam. He should have bought Adam to the Garden. He would be one of the only humans to ever see it. Michael could have shown him this side of paradise, shown him where the first man had fallen from grace, could have bought the story full circle by bring his Adam to the Garden, by giving him back paradise but he had been too busy with Lucifer and kept Adam close to him. Adam had been his secret weapon, the one who would allow him onto the battlefield with Lucifer. Even as Michael had given part of himself to Adam he hadn't ever considered the possibility of taking him somewhere simply for the two of them, without the pressure of their destiny on his shoulders. When they were in Hell it had been too late and he had put all his energy into finding an escape for them both, into protecting Adam.

Now that chance had passed completely. Adam could not come here unless he was no longer tied to humanity and Michael would not do that to him. Adam had to live.

Behind him Castiel was touching the leaves of a flowering tree, his expression unreadable. "I have not been here for a long time," he said quietly, echoing Michael's own thoughts.

"We must find the tree," he said, determined not to dwell on sentimentality any longer. "We do not know if we are safe here."

"It will be at the center of the Garden. Our Father's taste is for the theatrical, after all," Castiel wore the hint of a half-smile on his face and Michael had to smile back. Their Father had always loved a taste of showmanship. Gabriel took after him in that respect. Michael could hardly say he hadn't indulged himself once or twice when spreading the word – he'd appeared to one prophet as a flaming bush but he only took that option when he could not find a vessel to accommodate him. Michael preferred to talk face to face. All but Dean Winchester had listened when he spoke to them.

They walked through the garden, through the beautiful flowers and tall canopy of trees. Everything was lush, fresh and perfect. Just as Castiel had suggested the tree stood in the middle of a clearing, branches laden with bright red apples that looked as if they would be crisp and juicy. They were made to be tempting. Their Father has spared no detail or had it been Lucifer who had taken the time to lovingly craft the tree and its apples? It made Michael feel physically sick to know that part of what might be needed to save Adam, could have come from his brother's hand. He didn't want Lucifer to be involved with Adam, even by such degrees of separation.

"How many do we need?" Castiel asked. He was staying back at the edge of the clearing and Michael knew why. Even from back here he could feel the sin that tainted the apples. They looked beautiful but they were rotten inside.

"I do not know," Michael responded truthfully. "Adam has not eaten well since he returned to the living. I think we should take as many back as we can carry." He held his hand up, conjuring a bag to hold them in and hoped that once Adam had had a few bites of the apple, once the baby's need for humanity had been sated then he would eat properly and Michael could destroy the rest of the rotten fruit.

Castiel nodded. Michael didn't make his brother pick the first apple. He grasped it himself, snapping it from the tree and holding it in his hand for a moment before dropping it into the bag. He would have to make sure no one but Adam ate them. Castiel picked another from the tree and together they filled up the whole bag.

"This should be enough," Michael said, looking down into the bag of juicy red apples and Castiel nodded, wiping his hands on his trench coat, trying to wipe away the taint of them.

His eyes widened suddenly and Michael wondered what was wrong when there was the snap of a twig behind him and he whirled in time to block the blow of a sword, shoving Raphael away from him bodily. His brother had snuck up on him. He'd been planning to kill him, in the Garden of all places. Michael knew that death was one of the options Raphael might use against him but he had assumed, given the recent attack on Adam, that he was concentrating on ridding Michael's life of that little distraction rather than eliminating Michael himself. As far as Michael knew Raphael wanted the apocalypse. Without Michael there could hardly be one unless Raphael had decided to fight Lucifer himself and even if he did it would not be as was written.

He dropped the bag of apples at his feet, drawing his own sword. "Raphael," he nodded coolly at his brother.

"Michael." Raphael nodded back. "And Castiel."

Michael felt rather than saw Castiel draw his own sword then appear Michael's side. Castiel didn't have the power of an archangel. He could not take down Raphael and yet he still stood by Michael, determined to fight with him. Michael wondered if he had simply been too focused on Lucifer to realize before the loyalty his brother had or if this was something Castiel recently developed. They were closer now. Castiel was not just a simple seraph and Michael was no longer only Heaven's sword. They had become more than what they had once been. Not Raphael though, he had not changed.

"You mean to kill me?" he asked his brother.

"Wound you," Raphael corrected him. "I mean to kill Castiel but you, I mean to wound. My assassination attempt on Adam Milligan failed. The boy will die though, without these apples and he will take that bastard child with him. I mean only to keep you from giving them to him."

Michael gritted his teeth. "There is still Gabriel…."

Raphael laughed. "Gabriel would never come here. Gabriel is afraid of me, afraid of Heaven."

"You are wrong," Castiel said quietly. "He would come if it meant saving Adam."

Raphael's gaze shifted to him and his smile was cruel. "Then I will kill him too. As long as Michael survives and Adam Milligan dies I do not care what happens. Once Adam is dead I know you will come to your senses, Michael."

Michael could not help but smile at that. Adam being dead had not prevented him from being resurrected before. Michael had drawn together the ashes of his body and built them back into a man. Castiel had pulled him from the earth but it had been Michael who had rebuilt him. It was Michael who had escaped the cage with Adam, brought him back to the cemetery where they had died and returned him to his former glory with only the addition of their child growing inside of him. Michael had woven something of himself into Adam from the first time he restored him. Even if Raphael killed him now, Michael would never restart the apocalypse.

"If he dies I will bring him back," He spat out. He would go wherever Adam's soul was kept – Heaven or Hell – and if Adam wouldn't come back with him then Michael would stay there at his side.

"Your child will still die." Raphael did not seem at all angry with Michael's proclamation. He was right though. The child had never had a chance to live. She was still growing, still becoming more than simply unformed grace. If Adam died she went with him and she would never be. Michael would not be able to bring her back.

"If you hurt either of them Raphael, I will kill you," He warned his brother, hoping that Raphael would remember that once they had been close, once they had meant more to each other than pieces on a chess set as Lucifer had called them. Michael hated to find himself quoting Lucifer but for once his little brother and his tongue of lies had spoken the truth. "You should walk off the board, Raphael," He told his brother and heard Castiel's gasp behind him.

"I will not allow this." Raphael raised his sword again. "I will poison the tree if I have to. I will not allow you to ignore our Father's wishes for some human boy. He'll be dead in the blink of an eye, Michael. Let him die."

Michael raised his own sword but it was Castiel who darted out, who slashed and defended and Michael knew he could leave. He could take the apples and go to Adam, could save Adam but Castiel would almost certainly die. Raphael would not allow him to walk out of the garden alive. Even as he thought that Raphael swung wide, his blade cutting in an arch, the tip of it slashing through clothes and into skin. Castiel staggered back, blood spilling over his fingers from the wound to his stomach and Raphael raised the sword to finish the job. Castiel did not have time to heal, to block or avoid. Time itself seemed to slow as Michael stepped between them. Raphael had meant to strike the killing blow and in the process, had left himself unguarded. Michael simply raised his sword and let Raphael impale himself on it.

Raphael's eyes were wide as he looked down at the sword in his chest and Michael let go of the handle even as Raphael's fingers reached for him.

"Brother," he whispered before the Garden was filled with light. Michael shut his eyes tightly. He heard the sound of Raphael's empty vessel as it hit the floor – a solid, dull, dead weight and then behind him he could hear Castiel sinking to his knees. He opened his eyes again, reaching forward to pull his sword free from the corpse and then turned to take in the full extent of Castiel's injuries.

"Castiel, get up," Michael barked. "Heal yourself."

Castiel made no move to stand, the blood spreading underneath his hand, wetting through his white shirt.

"It was not a fatal hit, " Michael countered him, annoyed that Castiel would not respond. His brother had been wilful but this was pointless rebellion. Castiel's refusal to heal only hurt himself and then indirectly the Winchesters. Michael knew he should leave his brother here. If Castiel was in no fit state to carry on then he could be sacrificed. He was a foot soldier after all but even so he hesitated. Adam would not leave someone, Michael knew that. If he came back without Castiel, Adam would never forgive him.

He knelt down at Castiel's side, fingers touching the long gash and Castiel shuddered, turning his head away. Michael probed a little deeper, beneath the flesh and came into contact with Castiel's grace. It was weakened, diverted and he followed the diversion. Nestled there, growing and protected, a second grace beat, previously undetected.

Michael pulled his hand away as if stung. "You…"

"You mustn't tell Dean," Castiel said quietly. The first words out of his mouth since he had been hit and Michael hated that Castiel still put the feelings of that human above himself. "I told him it wasn't possible, Michael. He hurt me. I wanted to hurt him too." He swallowed hard, the blood sticky and wet on his fingers and Michael covered Castiel's hand with his own, letting his grace flow through the tips, helping Castiel to heal himself.

"You cannot keep this hidden," he said gravely and Castiel shook his head.

"Dean doesn't want…I am his when he needs me, nothing more than that. I cannot put this burden on him."

Michael thought of how he had ignored Adam, how he had sent him back to his brothers and the prayers he had heard from the boy while he was in Heaven. Adam had begged him and cursed him. He hated and loved him with a passion that had terrified Michael. He kept him at arm's length because Adam was precious to him and a weakness that could be used against him. He had killed his brothers to protect Adam. He had bought them back from the dead for the same reason. If Dean Winchester was his true vessel, and Michael did not doubt that, then he suspected Dean adopted a very similar line of thinking. He had pushed Castiel away to save him.

"He must know about this," he said and Castiel's shoulders drooped miserably. The blood flow had stopped but the wound was not closing as Michael would have liked. Even with Raphael dead they were not safe in the garden. There might be others who believed that Michael had been corrupted, others who would try to stop them. He picked up the bag full of apples from where he had dropped them and forced them into Castiel's arms. "Hold these. I will take you home."

Michael did not know who should be his priority – Adam or Castiel. He hoped Adam was not fading as fast as Raphael had made it seem but Castiel, even with Michael's help, was pale in his arms, leaning against him for support. He did not have to make that decision though. Dean was there in a second, arms wrapping around Castiel, taking in the sight of him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Raphael attacked us." Michael told him simply, ignoring the way Dean glared at him. "How is Adam?"

"Won't eat, keeps slipping in and out of consciousness, threw up on Gabriel about ten minutes after you left." Dean smiled at the last part and then his smile faded. "Did you get him what he needs?"

"Yes," Michael said, holding out the bag. "They are for Adam only. I do not know what affect they would have on anyone else."

"Keep them away from Sammy then."

"Sam is already tainted by demon blood. I had not planned to give him an apple."

Dean glared at him, already moving to hurry Castiel up the stairs. "Just make Adam better. I'm going to get Cas to lie down. What the fuck is wrong with you, Cas? Do you need to rest now or something? Why aren't you just mojoing this better?"

Michael left them to continue their slow progress up the staircase, intent on reaching Adam's bedside. Adam was pale, dark circles under his eyes and Michael did not think he slept any more, his body did not rest itself when he passed out. He suspected it was the grace inside Adam drawing on him, sucking him dry till Adam's body could not contend with it any more. He reached into the bag, drawing out an apple and polished it with his sleeve.

"I brought you this," he told Adam softly, watching his face worriedly. Adam sighed, reaching out the pluck the apple from his fingers.

"Gabriel told me you went to the Garden of Eden to fetch this," he said, turning the apple over and over in his hands. "Am I supposed to eat this? Won't I be damned?"

Michael shook his head. "You need this. You are carrying an angel's child. Your body cannot cope. She needs humanity, Adam. All humans are born with original sin, with the ability to do both good and evil."

Adam looked even more doubtful at that but Michael could see him licking his lips. The first Adam had given into the temptation offered by the apple and his own Adam did not seem able to resist either. Michael turned his head away as Adam bit into the red fruit, not wanting to see it. He knew their child could not remain as she was but he did not want to watch Adam eat. He was reminded all too well of when Adam and Eve had been cast out of the garden. It was not a pleasant memory and Michael did not want to remember it.

Already Adam sounded better. Michael could hear him making little moaning noises as he bit into the apple, devouring it as a starving man would and Michael prayed Adam would never realize how close he came to starvation. The apple core bounced on the floor beside his foot and Adam stuck his hand out in front of him.

"More!" he demanded and Michael smiled, fishing out another apple from the bag.

They were still the most delicious fruit in all of Eden. Lucifer had never lied about that.

"Right," Dean said, sitting down on the bed next to Castiel. He'd taken the angels ruined shirt off to get a better look at the cut on his stomach. It wasn't deep but it wasn't healing the way it should be. It was still raw looking and red and the area around it was filthy with Castiel's blood. Castiel had submitted to all his poking and prodding, looking up at Dean as if he was exhausted. It worried Dean. "Did Raphael hit you with something new?"

"No," Castiel said. "Just his angel sword."

"Okay." Dean cast his angel another worried glance. He'd filled up a bowl with warm water, mixing in a little salt because it was the cheapest, easiest way to fight off an infection getting into the cut. He didn't even know what Castiel was susceptible to now. Dean hoped he wasn't falling again. He dipped a cloth into the hot water, getting it soaked before wringing it out and bringing the cloth to stroke gently over the wound, cleaning away the blood. Castiel groaned, biting his lip and Dean's frown intensified.

"Suck it up," He said, harsher then he'd intended. "You're not getting any painkillers. Heal yourself."

He wasn't going to let Cas go down that road. He didn't know if this was how it started, Castiel falling and needing help healing himself but he wasn't letting Cas do that. Cas had to heal himself because Dean wasn't letting him fall again; he wasn't letting him become that person he'd seen in the future. That person hadn't been his Cas and he wasn't going to hasten any move towards that. When he looked at Castiel's face again, Castiel was frowning.

"I did not ask you for painkillers, Dean," he said quietly and Dean sighed. The cut was clean now, looking vivid red against Castiel's pale skin but he kept touching him, unable to stop. Castiel had been hurt and badly and in a place Dean would never have been able to rescue him from. He wasn't having a good time handling it.

"What's happening to you, Cas? Are you falling? I've seen you take hits and just get back up and carry on fighting, so what's happened?" he asked, letting the concern show in his voice.

Castiel rolled away from him and Dean hated when he did that. He laid his hand on the angel's shoulder. "Come on. I need you, man. I need you here to help me with Adam." He felt Castiel stiffen under him at the mention of his brother. "Fuck, Cas. What the hell is it now? You don't like Adam? Or are you lying again? You better tell me."

Castiel's shoulders slumped and he looked back over his shoulder at Dean as if he had been defeated. It almost broke Dean's heart. "Yes, I lied to you."

Dean gritted his teeth. "About what?" he asked. He should never have left Michael alone downstairs with Adam. He'd probably snatched him up again and gone off with him, taken him off to start the apocalypse on the other side of the world or those apples were poisonous or something. Castiel's eyes widened as if he could hear Dean's thoughts and Dean supposed he could. He just hated it when Castiel did that.

"It's not about Adam," Castiel rushed to tell him. "I…I lied."

"Yeah, Cas, you mentioned that. What about?"

Castiel looked trapped now. Dean could see he was trying to figure out a way to avoid whatever was going to come out of his mouth and now Dean was really starting to worry. Finally Castiel bowed his head and sighed. "I told you I was not carrying your child, that you could not impregnate me. I was angry, Dean. You had told me I was unimportant to you. I did not want you to know how important you were to me."

Dean swallowed. He thought he understood what Castiel was saying but he also hoped he'd misheard him. He might have shouted out to the whole of the world that he could knock up an angel if he'd wanted to, Castiel especially, but he'd been angry too at the time. He hadn't ever expected that Cas really was pregnant. If he was. Dean still didn't believe it. Not until Cas actually said those words.

Again as if reading his mind Castiel took a deep breath. "I am pregnant Dean."

Dean nodded slowly.

"And that's why you're…." He gestured to Castiel, to the cut. Castiel nodded.

"I am unable to heal myself fully while supporting our child. It requires nourishment and I care more for its protection than my own," he agreed, his hand coming to rest over to cut and Dean followed him, placing his own hand over Castiel's.

"Then you're not getting out of bed," he decided. Castiel's face clouded.

"But Adam…."

"Raphael nearly took you out. What if he tries again?"

"Raphael is dead," Castiel said patiently. "Michael killed him. He threatened Adam."

"Adam," Dean muttered. He looked up at Castiel, chewing on the bottom of his lip as another probability raised itself. "You're not going to…Adam's sick, Cas, really sick. Are you going to get sick like him?" Dean meant dying but he couldn't bring himself to say the word. He was hoping for a last minute miracle. With all the angels in the house they were due one and maybe the apples Michael had brought back from the Garden of Eden would help with that.

Castiel shook his head. "No. I am not in danger the way that Adam has been. It was a mistake what happened to Adam. His body should not have coped but Michael was determined. While my vessel is male it does not matter so much with me, I am an angel and the grace we have created cannot hurt me as Michael's grace hurts Adam. I will be fine, Dean. I am weakened but I am not ill."

"Right," Dean said slowly, his hand still resting over Castiel's stomach. "Then you can stay up here. You need to rest. My kid's there, Cas. You think I'm going to let you hurt yourself?"

"You have before," Castiel said quietly.

Dean sighed. "That was before, Cas. Before everything. Things are different now." It wasn't just about Castiel and the baby although that was certainly different but Adam being alive and Gabriel. Dean would never have believed he'd be happy under the same roof as Michael but as long as the archangel wasn't trying to restart the apocalypse then Dean was grudgingly willing to come to an understanding with him.

Castiel tilted his head slightly. "How are they different, Dean?" he asked.

Dean swallowed. He'd hoped he could get away from this without having to talk about things any more than was necessary. He'd made it clear to Castiel that he'd stand by him, that now that a baby was in the picture Dean knew where he wanted to be and he would have thought Castiel would understand but maybe they'd been down this path too many times. Dean had always been good at reeling Castiel in and then throwing him, floundering, back out when he'd had his fun. It seemed that Castiel needed a little more reassurance this time.

Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably, clasping Castiel's hand in his own. "Look, Cas. We've been through a lot together and I…you mean a lot to me. After Sammy, you're the most important person in my life. I want you to stay around. Not because there are no women around or because I'm lonely but because I like you. I just want you. Okay?" He answered, his voice wavering a little towards the end. Dean didn't do love confessions. There had only been one person he'd opened his heart to like this, Cassie and she'd stomped all over it.

"I only want you too, Dean," Castiel agreed quietly.

"And this means no more lying, you got that?" Dean said fiercely. "I need to be able to trust you, Cas. I need to know you're not running around, playing games with me."

"Then you cannot lie to me," Castiel said calmly. Dean opened his mouth to tell Castiel that he'd never lied to him but that wasn't true. He'd lied before – about hunts, about Sam, even about his feelings for Castiel. If they were going to try being honest with one another then he couldn't turn around and throw that back in Castiel's face by stubbornly refusing to admit the parts where he'd been wrong too.

"Fine," He muttered. "No more lies from either of us. It's just gonna be you and me from now on, telling the truth and staying together. You don't run off to Heaven and I don't kick you out of bed when I sober up."

"And we will talk about your drinking, Dean," Castiel said, his lips turning down at the corners in a frown. Dean couldn't help but love him for that. They'd probably talk about it, probably fight about it but if things with Castiel turned around, if Adam survived this whole pregnancy and if Dean was going to be a dad then maybe he could just cut down to social drinking.

"Sure," He offered. "We can talk about it."

Castiel was looking at him with wide eyes, as if he didn't really believe what Dean was saying so Dean leaned forward and kissed him. In the past he'd always found that kissing Castiel was a pretty definitive way to convince him to do anything and a pretty damn good way of shutting him up. Castiel's hands found their way into his hair and Dean found himself straddling the bed, mindful that Castiel wasn't completely healed and that – powerful angel or not – he was a little bit fragile now. That was going to take some getting used to. It had been a while since they'd bothered with slow and steady but Dean was sure he could pick up that rhythm again.

"I heard there was something wrong with Castiel." Sam was looking at him inquisitively. They were in the living room again, camped out beside Adam who looked brighter since he ate the apples. Michael was seated beside him on the cot, his hand pressed to Adam's stomach, communing with their child or so he said and Gabriel made infrequent trips from the kitchen to get Sam to try his latest batch of chili. He'd added dark chocolate and a shot of tequila. It wasn't as bad as it sounded.

Dean lounged back in his armchair, aware that there were three sets of inquisitive eyes turned towards him and that Gabriel was probably listening in from the kitchen.

"Yeah. That's why he's sleeping it off." He jabbed his thumb upwards, indicating the master bedroom upstairs where he'd finally tired Castiel out enough for the angel to fall asleep. He stretched, remembering it and smiled to himself.

"So, what was wrong with him?" Sam tried again and Dean had to give him credit for not giving up that easily. His gaze flickered across the room to Michael who had a knowing glint in his eyes. Of course, Michael would know. He'd been with Castiel in the garden. He was the one who carried him home. Dean could feel the smallest bit of gratitude towards Michael for doing that at least.

He stretched out again and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, he'll be fine in about nine months."

Sam nodded before the understanding completely dawned on him. "You mean Cas is…?"

"Oh." Adam didn't sound too happy about it and Dean shot his little brother a look but Adam's expression was more confused than anything else. He'd covered his stomach with his hands and Dean wondered if he was just worrying about Castiel too, trying to imagine what the angel was going through or if he was annoyed to not be the only one in the house any more who was knocked up.

Gabriel poked his head around the kitchen door. "You lot are a very fertile family, aren't you? I guess I should be careful and insist on condoms, right Sammy?" he asked, eyeing Sam and Sam's face flushed red. Dean laughed, banging his hand down on the arm of his chair.

"I…" Sam spluttered and Gabriel winked at him.

"Been there, done that. Got the monster children," he said, waving his hand in the air and Sam looked as if he was swallowing his own tongue.

"Uh, guys…" Adam tried to interject but Dean cut across him.

"So you're going to be a step dad then, Sam?"

"Nothing is happening with me and Gabriel!" Sam hissed. "It's all in his head!"

"Sam, you wound me!" Gabriel pressed his hand to his chest, mocking offended and Sam buried his head in his hands.

"GUYS!" Adam shouted this time, his face white with fear. The laughter in the room died instantly. "I think…" He doubled over in pain, sweat beading on his forehead. "I think something's wrong with the baby. It hurts, it hurts so much."

Michael pressed to his side, hands pressing over Adam's stomach and he closed his eyes, lost in concentration. When he opened them again he was smiling softly.

"No, Adam. Nothing is wrong with her. She is just ready to be born."

"Isn't it early?" Sam asked, jumping to his feet.

Michael shook his head. "Adam was carrying our child in Hell. It took me many months to arrange our freedom. His body is experiencing the pregnancy at an accelerated rate."

"What do we do?" Sam bent over Adam, trying to get him to lie back. "It's just a contraction, Adam. It could take hours before you're ready to have the baby." He glanced to Michael for confirmation. The angel nodded.

"Let us make you comfortable, Adam. I doubt our child will be born tonight." He said.

"OH GOD, it hurts!"

Michael's frown was not what Adam wanted to see at that moment in time. He felt as if he was being jabbed in the stomach with a red hot poker.

"Adam, you should not blaspheme," he said patiently, running his hand over Adam's forehead, smoothing back his sweat slicked hair. Adam felt a cooling sensation running through him but it didn't reach the intense, burning pain that had settled at the base of his spine, didn't do anything to abate it.

"Michael," he whimpered. "Michael, it hurts. I want drugs, Michael."

"I don't know," Sam piped up from the other side of him. He passed Adam a glass filled with ice cold water. "You're having an angel's child. I don't think you should be mixing drugs into that."

"But…"

"Angels and drugs don't mix," Dean muttered from the doorway where he was keeping watch and that was apparently the end of the subject.

Adam gritted his teeth, sobbing against the pain rolling through him. He wanted the baby out now and evidently she felt the same way. The pain had started an hour ago and it was becoming more intense since then. At first Adam thought he was losing her, that his body wasn't coping just as everyone had said but then Michael had laid his hands on him and felt her moving, had heard her steady heartbeat. It was just contractions he'd said. She wasn't dead but she couldn't stay in him any longer.

"My grace should be enough to help you through the pain," Michael coaxed him, rubbing down his back and Adam collapsed face first into the pillows.

"It's not!" he yelled, slamming his fists down onto the bed.

"I have never done this before." Michael sounded worried now and Adam gasped for breath, swallowing down great mouthfuls of it because lying on his front wasn't helping him. He pushed himself back up onto all fours, fighting the desire to push because there was nowhere for the baby to go.

"Then I want someone who has! I want…Oh god, get me Gabriel!"

Before he'd even finished the angel's name Gabriel was at his bedside. "Wow, Adam. Guess this position must remind of how you got in this mess in the first place. Gotta tell you, Kiddo, it's not half as fun when it comes out."

"Yeah, gathered that. Thanks," Adam panted, his vision starting to double and he couldn't deal with two Gabriel's right now.

"Gabriel…" Michael's tone was warning and Adam didn't need another reminder that the last time they'd all been in a room together like this Michael had tried to kill Gabriel. He reached out, grabbing hold of Gabriel's hand and tried to keep himself from swaying sideways. Gabriel grabbed hold of him, keeping him up right.

"I got him, Michael. I'm not going to hurt him."

"He's important to me, Gabriel." Michael's voice was low, the way it always was when he talked about things that he felt strongly about and Adam would have been happy if Michael's baby hadn't been trying to beat her tiny way out of his body. Adam knew he was falling apart, that the fledgling was trying to save herself before he completely expired and he groaned, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Gabriel's shoulder, letting Gabriel take his weight. All children were inherently selfish but it appeared angelic children even more so, when they try to abandon their host and kill them in the process. Adam knew he wouldn't last through this if he didn't get some help.

"I know, Michael. I know," Gabriel said softly and Adam shivered in his arms because he'd never heard Gabriel sound as serious as that before.

"Please," He groaned.

"Michael, get out." Gabriel was back to breezy in a moment and Adam was glad for that. "Adam doesn't want you here and neither do I. You're underfoot." Adam could only imagine the face Michael was making but he didn't look back to see it. "Sam, you too. You said no drugs so Adam rightly hates you. Have you ever tried having a baby? Let me tell you the time I gave birth to a horse without drugs."

"That's a legend," Sam said but he sounded a little unsure.

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows, "Wouldn't you like to know, Sammy, and Dean…"

"No," Adam gasped. "I want Dean to stay."

Gabriel's smile was electric.

"You finally get to put all those hours of watching Dr. Sexy to good use, Dean. Grab a knife, some hot water and that morphine I know you've got stashed where Castiel can't find it."

"Is Castiel on drugs?" Adam asked, his eyes widening and that thought alone was enough to make him forget the pain for a second or so.

"It's a long story," Dean muttered.

Adam cried out again, the pain in his stomach making him want to vomit and Gabriel tried to move as far out of his reach while still supporting him as he could.

"I don't think we've got time for that story right now, " he said, eyeing Dean.

Adam didn't want to think about how much he'd missed, how much he didn't know about his brother's or their angels. He didn't want to think about anything but getting the baby out of him.

"Gabriel, it hurts," he wailed as Gabriel hushed him.

"I know. Come on, onto your back," he said softly, helping get Adam over and kneeling behind him. He propped up a pillow behind Adam. "I know you want to push but Adam, we're going to have to cut it out of you."

"I want a hospital!" Adam gasped, hand flying down to his stomach instinctively and he heard Dean snort. He must have come back from wherever he was sent but Adam couldn't remember him leaving or his return. He was just about hanging on to the idea of Gabriel being there but the pain was all he was really focused on.

"Hospital was never an option, Adam. Suck it up and don't let an angel stick it in you next time or at least use a condom," He said, digging around in an old box Adam thought he vaguely remembered seeing stuffed on top of the bathroom cabinet. A moment later Dean had brought out a clean syringe and a bottle of morphine and Adam felt his heart skip a beat.

"Do you know how to administer that?" he asked, basic training taking over because he and his baby could die from this. It didn't matter that there were angels around. Adam didn't want to put his faith in angels. He wanted to put his faith in clean sterilised instruments and science, not Dean's hunting knife and some supplies he'd either bought off the internet or stolen.

"I patch Sammy and myself up all the time," Dean said confidently, tapping the tip of the needle a few times to make sure there were no air bubbles in it. "Gabriel, hold his arm still." Adam felt Gabriel's fingers tighten around his arm, holding it out so Dean would have a good shot at the vein. He turned his head away, not wanting to see what was coming.

Dean knelt at his side, rubbing his fingers gently over the raised skin on the inside of Adam's elbow, trying to bring the vein to surface. Adam was so skinny now it only took that gentle prodding to do it and a second later Adam felt the needle slide in.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Adam," Dean whispered and Adam shut his eyes and clung on to the hope that this time Dean would be there for him, this time he wouldn't end up alone and helpless. Dean had the power of life or death over him in this moment and Adam hated giving it to him but he wanted to believe in his brother so much.

He opened his eyes to the soft feeling of Dean's lips on his forehead.

Dean smiled at him, giving him a quick pat on the shoulder before pulling away. "Right. Should take effect in a few minutes. Gabriel, I'll need you to heal him. Adam, just…don't look at me, okay? This is hard already." Adam could see the knife glinting in Dean's hand and he swallowed, thinking of all the times that knife must have gone through flesh, chipped bone. Dean's used that knife to kill and now he's going to try and save both Adam and the unborn baby with it. _Kate, _Adam thought fuzzily, the drug beginning to take hold and his head lolled back on Gabriel's shoulder and he remembered what Dean had asked him and shut his eyes tight.

Even with the morphine dulling him, making him feel like he was flying, the way he had been when Michael was still inside him, soaring through the skies, Adam felt the knife enter his skin. It was dulled a moment later, Gabriel's clever fingers there, messing with his mind and making Adam forget the pain as soon as it started.

And a little after that, there didn't seem to be anything at all.

"_Oh god," Adam said, blinking his eyes. "I'm dead, aren't I?" _

_He was lying on the kitchen floor of his mother's house, blinking up into the bright light above him. He knew he had to be dead. This was his Heaven now. He was back with his mother. He'd been so desperate to see her but he hadn't wanted to leave yet. He wanted to be back with his daughter, back with Michael. He could feel tears rolling down his cheeks. It wasn't fair for him to get another taste of life and then have it snatched away. Not when he was going to start anew. _

"_Mom," he called out. A second later his mother's worried face appeared above him, looking down at him as Adam wept. _

"_Adam…" she whispered, kneeling down next to him. Adam felt like his heart was going to burst if he kept crying like he was but he couldn't stop. It was so unfair. All of it. The light around them seemed to be growing brighter still and Adam wondered if when he'd been dreaming he'd always been skirting close to death. There was a tunnel of bright light when you died. He remembered that and how he'd run down it to escape the ghouls and the pain, only to end up trapped in an eternal prom, forever eighteen. He didn't want that again. _

"_Am I dead? Mom….the baby…Kate…"_

"_You're not dead, Adam." his mother said softly, reaching out to touch his forehead. "You need to go back now, Adam. Go back." The white light that had been threatening to engulf him, faded. Around them Adam felt the world start to go with it, the kitchen cabinets turned into a blur, the floor beneath him felt more like Gabriel's knees poking him in the back. _

"_Mom…" he said._

"_I love you, Adam." Kate was becoming a blur now but her voice stayed strong. "I want you to live, baby. I love you so much."_

_And then she was gone too. _

Adam opened his eyes, blinking as he took a deep breath and suddenly he heard the sound of a new-born's cries. It rushed at him all at once and he was back in the living room of Bobby Singer's house and his baby was there, screaming her head off.

"Kate," he murmured, holding out his arms.

"Don't move just yet, Kiddo. I'm still getting you stitched back together," Gabriel muttered in his ear. "I thought we'd lost you there for a moment. Good thing you came back to us. I don't know what I would have said to Michael. He'd probably have tried to stab me again."

"I saw my mom," Adam said softly, laying back in Gabriel's arms and let the angel's fingers finish healing up the scar across his stomach. Gabriel made a non-committal sound, more interested in finishing his job than hearing about Adam's near-death experience.

"You know, I think she might be the most beautiful girl in the world," Dean said and Adam turned his head slightly, his heart skipping a beat because Dean was standing there, staring down at the little bundle wrapped up carefully in his arms. The expression on Dean's face was filled with awe.

Adam didn't think he'd ever realized before how much Dean looked like their father, how much he reminded Adam of his own face when he saw it in the mirror. He wondered if Kate would share those same expressions, the little dashing of freckles.

"What colour are her eyes?" he asked and Dean turned to look at him, smiling.

"Green," Dean said softly and Adam sighed.

"Just like Michael's. Like Dad's." he whispered and Dean nodded, passing the baby across to Adam. He pulled back the blankets to get a better look at his daughter. She was perfect. Her little hands, fingers curled into tiny fists, little mouth all screwed up like a bud, green eyes wide as she looked up at her father for the first time. She'd stopped screaming so Adam hoped she knew he was her father. "I hope you have blonde hair." he muttered to her, bending to kiss her forehead.

"Should I let the others in then?" Gabriel asked, running a hand through Adam's hair and peering over his shoulder at the little baby. "Hello, Kate. I'm your uncle and I'll be the one who gives you your first taste of beer."

"Not if I get there first," Dean muttered. "And we're gonna get you into proper music, not the rubbish Adam likes. And I'll teach you to drive."

"Guys. Guys. She's five minutes old. Maybe Michael could see her before you make any more plans about her future," Adam laughed and it felt so good to laugh. With every touch of Gabriel's hand to his skin he felt more alive than he'd done since he'd come back. He could feel his body growing stronger, like Gabriel was a miracle drug fighting off an infection.

"Sure," Dean agreed, straightening up and opening the living room door. He looked over the three people stood outside, frowning when he got to Castiel's hopeful face. "What are you doing here? Get back to bed."

"I want to see Michael's child," Castiel said quietly. Dean growled softly and reached to grab Castiel's arm, pulling him inside the room.

"One look, then you're going back," he muttered. Castiel smiled at him softly and turned to kiss Dean's cheek.

"Don't worry. I do not think I will suffer as Adam has done during his confinement."

"No more, Cas. My heart can't take it."

Michael pushed passed the two of them, moving as quickly as he could to get to Adam's bedside.

"I thought…I felt…" he said softly, kneeling next to Adam. Adam glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel who was looking quietly worried.

"No, I'm fine. Gabriel kept me safe," Adam said quickly, holding Kate up for Michael's inspection. "Look at your daughter. Isn't she beautiful?"

Michael tilted his head to one side. "Her nose is asymmetrical."

"Michael, that's not what I asked you," Adam said, shaking his head exasperatedly but he couldn't help but smile at Michael. He would likely never change and Adam didn't want him to. Michael had forced his way out of Hell, brought Adam back to life to give their child a chance to live. He'd taken on Heaven for Adam. It would be impossible for Adam not to love him now. Not when he was holding Kate in his arms. Michael had given him another chance, given him a new special girl in his life.

Michael peered to look at Kate's face again and then nodded. "Yes, she's very beautiful."

Adam smiled at him. Whatever else that might come he had a family now. He had brothers and he had Michael, and now he had his daughter. It might be a strange family, a broken one if you looked at the cracks between them and not the whole of them, but it was all Adam wanted now. He didn't know what would happen in the future.

There would be Castiel and Dean's child, of course. And he didn't know yet if Kate would have wings or if she would be like him, if Michael would go back to Heaven or if he'd stay, didn't even know if Gabriel would disappear now that he'd done what he'd been resurrected to do. He caught sight of Sam, his arm slung around Gabriel's shoulder and, as he lifted the baby to show her off a little better to his big brother, he thought that Sam might give Gabriel one good reason to stay around. This wasn't anything like Adam had planned for himself or like anything he'd wanted but he wouldn't change it now. Whatever the future held they'd all face it together, as a family.

The way they always should have been.


End file.
